Love on one line
by hoot13
Summary: It's not his fault that he's flirty. But it's not her fault that she's learning to respond.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight, not me.

My name's Bella and i live in New York. I moved here recently with my best friend Alice. We share an apartment together. Even though i tell her everything, _like other best friends she sucks things out of me, _i wanted to keep this a secret. I don't want her to think low of me. Anyway, it started on a Sunday evening...

Ever since i moved here, i was desperate for a job. I thought about writing as a career, but i was told it wasn't for me. So then i went to thousands of interviews, not sure what they were for anyway. I got plenty of declines, some maybes and a yes. What this job was for, i didn't know. But the money was good. No good reason to decline.

So on Monday Morning, Alice, being the shopaholic she is, bought me thousands of work clothes. Even though none of us knew what i was doing. So she took a blind guess which lead to me wearing a black _really _short dress which just reached mid-thigh. The sleeves reached to my elbows and _it was v-necked which showed my cleavage. _If that didn't satisfy Alice, she made me wear Jimmy Choo berry ankle boots. How does she afford this stuff?

Anyway, back to the story, after deciding what i wear i took a shower. Then i tried to sneak in tights but Alice refused like i was a child desperately after something i can never have. Just my luck. After wearing my revealing dress and squeezing my feet in the boots. I was ready to go to work. But of course, Alice had to do my hair. It was a good thing, she was running late for work so she did a quick tight bun which gave me the feeling that today my hair wasn't going to fall out.

Not that I'm old or scared, i would just look strange. I like the sun but i wouldn't prefer my head reflecting it. Back to the main story, it's funny how many times i change tracks...

I took a cab to the building which give me employment.When i reached there, i remembered it instantly. The building was popular. Over fifteen floors filled with different jobs to offer people. I swear Spread Magazine was located in one of these floors. But i wasn't working in that department, i was working as a secretary to one of the lawyers on the 10th floor.

I entered the building to be exclaimed that what i was wearing wasn't different to what they were wearing. On my way to the elevators, i got smiles. Not the warm ones, ones that tell you that you fit in. But i knew i didn't. Of all the things to wear, i would wear jeans and tank tops. If it wasn't for Alice, they would have been giving me dirty looks.

I squeezing myself inbetween two _bone-skinny_blondes- you'd think there would be less space. Only to hear gossip about single eligible bachelors and what's in season. My type of friends. Floor 10. _Ping. _Time to get out. To my surprise, the blondes got out to.

Great. They were the receptionists.

"Um, hi. Today's my first day of work here. My name's Bella Swan." Her facial expressions told me she wasn't expecting me.

"You'll be Edward Masen's secretary. His office and _yours_ is on the floor up. On that floor there are three doors. Go to the one on the left." She said it as fast as she could. Thank god the jealous tone in her voice made it hard for her. Wonder why she was jealous.

Anyhow, i followed her instructions. Inside the left door was not what i expected. It was a big room with comfortable black leather sofas and a small desk next to a door. This must be my office and a waiting room. The door adjoining this room had a person in it. Or what seemed like people in it. I heard cold curses and shattering vases. Who ever was in that room was obviously not in a good mood.

So i decided to seat myself on one of the sofas. Waiting for the monster inside to calm down. Only a few minutes later, he came out. My God. Was he my heart beater or what? With bedroom bronze hair and beautiful green eyes, he'd have any _man _falling at his feet.

Finally noticing me, he had a crooked grin plastered onto his face like he had won the lottery.

"Well hello, how may i help you?" It was a good thing i was sitting, i would have fallen at his feet if he had just said _one_ word in his sexy and musical voice.

"Hello to you to, I'm Bella Swan your new secretary." Where did that come from? Last time i checked, i was scared of talking to dead people.

"I wonder what i must be then." Huh? Oh no. Did he hear that thought?_ Don't stand there looking like mentally disturbed idiot! Play dumb!_

"Pardon?"

"I wonder what i must be then."

"Pardon?"

"I wonder what i must be then." Why is he repeating that?

"Pardon?"

"I wonder what i m- forget it!" Gosh could this god shout even louder?!

"Why did you snap at me? I was just asking a question."

"Pardon?"

"I said 'Why did you snap at me? I was just asking a question'."

"Pardon?" What is wrong with him? All the positive thoughts i had about him just vanished.

"Please stop."

"Pardon?" Asshole, he's mimicking me.

"Look! I'm your secretary, can we refresh our meeting?"

"No." He really seemed upset.

"Why not?"

"I don't employ thieves." Was he calling me a thief?

"What _did_ i steal?"

"My heart." Oh my god, was he hitting on me?

"Are you hitting on me?!"

"I only spank, would you like me to demonstrate?" There we go, the crooked smile came back. "I'm sorry, my behaviour was completely out of line." He said with the most heart-breaking face. Who could not accept his apology?

"It's fine, can you please tell me what to do now?"

"Sure, let's discuss this over a cup of coffee. What do you say?" Coffee and my boss. Hell yeah!

"O.k!"


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer own Twilight, not me.

I never realised how compassionate and interesting Edward was. Behind all those pick-up lines, a decent man is standing behind. Being with him makes time fly fast, very fast. It was only four pm when i noticed that. And all we did was go over the work details and playing a _quick _game of twenty questions. Right now, it was Edward's last question.

"Do you believe in helping the homeless?" What kind of a question is that? Might as well answer honestly.

"Of course!" Living with Renee softened my heart, she always used to find someone from the streets every week or so and brought them home.

"Take me home with you."

"Eh?"

"I miss my teddy bear. Would you sleep with me?" I thought he wouldn't 'spank' me anymore. What's gotten into him? He's a gentleman one minute and the next he's acting like he's the biggest man whore.

"Are you okay?"

"No, i need a map because i keep getting lost in your eyes." I've had enough.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going home.You're testing my patience, i'll see you tomorrow."

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

"What?"

"Me!" Asshole. Thinks he can play with me! Well, i'll show him...Sooner or later.

It's a bit early to go home. Maybe i should try the new club out. I need a good drink anyway. I must be desperate, who would have a drink at four. But i need to have fun, i need to do something risky. Something that might get me in trouble...

* * *

This place looks good. Not filled with drug addicts or anything. It's a good thing Alice dragged me to clubs every month. If we weren't dressed correctly, which was hardly ever, we would always go to plan b- bribe the bouncer. It always worked, and now i'm in Twilight Club ready to order a drink.

"Hello mam, what would you like to drink?"

"Oh um, what's the most popular drink you have?"

"Flirt 'ffects."

"No thank you! Give me vodka and coke."

"Coming right up."

In the middle of my drink, a _humongous_ dude sat on the stool next to me.

"Hi, i'm Emmett."

"Bella."

"This place isn't that bad.."

"Look mister, i would appreciate it if you didn't hit on me. I already have pick-up lines on my plate, i don't want more. O.k?"

"I'm sorry if i have offended you but FYI, i already have a girlfriend who i love more than my play boy magazines and i plan on proposing soon."

"Congrats."

"Thank you. By the way, call me Emmett and i wasn't hitting on you. Oh and don't tell my girlfriend about the you-know-what."

"I don't _know_ your girlfriend."

"Really? You should meet her! She's here somewhere. ROSE! ROSE!"

"Maybe she's gone to the bathroom."

"Maybe. So, you said something about lines on your plate. What do you mean by that?"

"No offence but you'd be bored with it. It's a girl problem."

"Is it because i'm a man? Is it because of my size?"

"No, no."

"Let me tell you something. I'm a personal trainer from Hollywood. I train the A-list stars, men and women. All of them tell _me _their problems. I'm like an agony aunt but i don't have a vagina or a womb or an egg..."

"I get the picture Emmett, you don't need to get into the details!"

"So you picture my penis? Is it big or small?"

"Emmett...Behave."

"Sorry, i get carried away."

"Forgiven but what do they ask?"

"The men tell me girl problems and how to hide their erections when a super-model is dancing to Pussycat dolls. The women have more saner problems, they ask how to do a good blow job and what lingerie would blow their man away."

"That's saner?"

"Yep."

"Gosh."

"So ready to spill the beans?"

"I dunno."

"You're obviously not telling me because of my size!"

"Sorry but you're freakin' huge!"

"If the wolf can were the grandma's clothes so can i!"

"You must be on crack."

"I only get high on sex."

"Okay, okay i'll tell. Here we go...

* * *

So you know the story."

"Wow i have got to meet this guy. His lines aren't bad but why is he hitting on you?"

"I dunno but i'm kinda jealous of him."

"How?"

"He's taking a risk, he's having fun. The funnest thing i've done in my life is go shopping with my friend Alice. I don't even like shopping!"

"You never had fun in your life? Never caused riots?"

"No."

"Man, i pity you. But don't worry, Emmett's there for you. I have some good ideas even though people have done it."

"Tell me everything you know!"

"Have you lost your virginity?"

"Yes."

"Oh, then you can't lose it to a bike."

"What the fuck?!"

"It's normal, i know plenty of people who've lost it to a bike."

"How? It's impossible!"

"Let's say you want to lose your virginity to a bike. Because you have a vagina, you have to stretch-"

"Idon'twannaknow!"

"Jeez!"

"Do you have anything other than topics related to that?"

"Bella, fun isn't always normal. It's not always truth or dare or knock-a-dolly."

"Emmett, that sounds really deep."

"I know, if only i could remember what show i got it from."

"Back to business. Let's try something else. What have you done?"

"Let's see..Oh i know i know! When i was in high school, me and a couple of buddies on the weekends used to go to shopping malls and pick condoms and put them on other people's trolleys when they weren't looking!"

"Remind me to never go shopping with you anywhere around me."

"Relax Bella, i've stop. Now, i go into changing rooms and shout 'Where's the toilet paper?' You should see the look on people's face when i got out!"

"Sometimes i wonder how old you really are."

"Rose wonders that too. Anyway, obviously making you do fun stuff is out of the question. Maybe, hanging around with weird people would have an effect on you."

"So i would turn weird?"

"No, look at me. My whole family are nutters but it's cool and funny hanging around with them."

"Tell me something funny or weird they have done."

"Okay, i have this cousin who raped a lamp post."

"How could you rape a lamp post?!"

"First you drill a hole and then you put your pe-"

"It was a rheotorical question. But still, i don't believe you."

"Go to his prison cell, then you'd believe me!"

"Let's just drop it."

"I have this client who when stoned, thinks he's in penis land!"

"That must mean a celebrity! He must be gay!"

"He's not gay. Or bisexual. A man might not know who's gay but his girlfriend knows."

"Then why does he think he's in penis land?"

"He used to be a woman!"


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns twilight, not me.

Time goes fast when you're having fun. It's hard to stop talking to Emmett. There might be a few awkward silences once in a while but that's just because of the things he comes up with. I mean, _which idiot has had dead rats chucked at them? _Emmett apparently.

Seems to me like he has had the most fun upbringing, with a really big family! Every couple in his family has had more than four children. _Ouch. _But lets not go there. Plus, everyone in his family is weird. And they all lived together and they all went on holidays together. And from what Emmett told me, he can't wait to break his family's children record. The highest is _seven_ children! He wants to get ten.

He couldn't be happier. He has met the perfect woman and had a perfect childhood. His family adore Rosalie who is intelligent, breath-taking and nice. What do i have? Apart from a shopaholic best friend who has also met the significant other. I have had a rotten childhood, my parent had divorced when i was two. I couldn't live with either of my parents because they pampered me to show that they were the best parent and i was an only child. I got the worst characteristics from my parents, not the best ones. I didn't get Charlie's bravery or Renee's smile lines.

I got a hideous blush that appears when someone mentions me or something about me. I'm clumsy and i can't seem to get spots! Not like i want any but every other teenager or adult has had them. I seem to be a freak. I can't even get a tan so i'm stuck with my freaky pale skin. Which brings out the colour of my boring brown eyes. Why couldn't have i got hazel like Charlie's?

If i was saying this to someone, they would think i was being jealous. Another terrible characteristic. I can't get jealous! Even though i'm plain looking, teenage boys of Forks, Washington found something special about me.

Rejecting them, which is clearly not the best term coming from me, didn't turn them away. They tried to get in my circle of friends. Which was me, my mind, my books, Alice and Jasper her boyfriend.

It's not like they weren't good looking. All the boys there had beautiful eyes; different shades of blue, grey, even brown and green. Not Edward green but still quite a beautiful colour. Most of them were in good shape and their hair could tell you their personality. But they just didn't interest me. It made me feel shallow but i couldn't like them, it was like they were made for someone else.

The La Push guys were something else. I was attracted to Jacob Black, Charlie's best friend's son. We went out for a couple of weeks and i loved him, i really did but he wasn't mine. He found his soul mate on our first and last argument. Seeing them happily together made me feel nothing, i couldn't mentally curse them or try to break them up. Charlie wasn't even jealous of the fact that someone else will marry his best friend's son and not his daughter.

I got this trait from Charlie. No matter how many men Renee went out with, it never affected him. It didn't take long for Renee to find her 'dream' man, Phil. Nothing will ever make Charlie jealous.

Enough of genes, i was proud to be invited to their wedding and being listed on Emmett's close friends list. I also get to bring a plus one! Pathetic i know but how many guys do this kind of sensitive activity? Plus, Emmett told me that i grew on him. So sweet...

He also told me how to deal with the Edward problem, all i had to do was block out his pick-up lines. 'Twisting his masculine activity' in other words.

Alice was so glad and relieved when i got home. Crazy, she thought i was kidnapped. Who on earth would kidnap me? I'm worth nothing. She was bouncing up and down when i told her that i went to a club! She acted a bit strange when i told about Emmett and how i was invited to his wedding. I left out the Edward part as i didn't want her marching up to his office and poking her tiny finger in his chest. Now that would have been funny!

I was upset though, she refused to be my plus one. As she had plans with Jasper. Lucky guy! Unlucky me! Alice declared that dressing me up would be her moment of glory! I felt sorry for myself.

Anyway, it was time to go to sleep. I had to wake up before Alice, i didn't want her dressing me up.

* * *

Coffee....Where was the god damn coffee?

"If you're looking for coffee, i suggest you go to your boss. Seeing as he drained the machine dry."

Stupid Jessica. More stupid Edward Masen.

"He needs it." There. I said it.

"Ha! You're funny."

"I don't know what makes him so dumb but it really works." Where did that insult come from?

"Joker!"

"If shit was music, he would be an orchestra!" I'm pretty good at this stuff. Who knows? Edward's good at flirting while i'm good at insults.

"Have you got any more?"

"I heard that his brother was an only child. Now i see that it's true!"

"I don't get that one."

"What would you get? I would have liked to insult you but the sad truth is that you wouldn't understand me."

"I don't get that one either."

"When you understand, go on a holiday."

"Okay!" Just when i thought she was a fake blonde.

* * *

"So Bella?" What more did he want? Wasn't apologising enough for him? Apparently not.

"Yes?"

"I want to check your shirt label to see if you were made in heaven." He was hitting on me again! Focus Bella. Remember what Emmett told you.

"I was made in heaven, such a shame you were born in hell." Nice come-back Bella!

"Opposites attract. Tell me, how was heaven when you left?"

"Gutted, they knew i was going to meet you..."

"Well i am a magical being. Can i try to make your top and bra disappear?" He doesn't stop does he?

"No but you can try walking out of that door."

"I can try getting the box you left your virginity in." He wouldn't stop. Where did he get all these lines from? Does he do this to female judges or female witnesses? Well, he didn't learn in his lawyer school that Bella Swan got As in Drama and has Alice Brandon as a best-friend. A little crying and lying wouldn't hurt anyone.

"How could you have said that to me? That was very hurtful."

"I'm so sorry Bella. What happened? I was just teasing you."

"I haven't lost my virginity yet. I promised my late grandma that i would reserve it for my husband. Oh grandma Marie! I loved her so much! Why did she leave me?"

"Shush. It's okay Bella. People go all the time."

"She was special. Oh grandma Marie! My grandma Marie!" At the last comment, i hugged him with all my strength and wiped my nose on his shirt. He was too busy smelling my hair to notice. Burping on his shirt wouldn't have been bad but i had to be lady-like at this 'moment'.

"Go home. I only have two meetings left."

"Thank-you Edward." I felt bad about lying to him but i needed to visit Emmett. Twilight club seemed to be his territory.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns twilight, not me.

"You actually did that?" Why did Emmett find it so funny? Me blowing my nose on my bosses' expensive shirt didn't make me laugh.

"Yup. What could I have done? He just wouldn't stop with the lines. It's like he's....You know."

"I know what?"

"You know...Wait, there are no words to describe his behaviour."

"Or you can't form any words for him?" Stupid Emmett! Stupid raised eyebrows of his!

"His behaviour is strange okay! He needs to see a psychiatrist. Why couldn't you have been a psychiatrist?"

"I'm not talking to aliens for nobody!" Huh? Where in hell did that come from? Aliens!

"Aliens don't exist."

"You don't know that! If there's life on planet Earth then why can't there be life on other planets?"

"I don't believe in aliens but something has possessed you! Since when did you know what planet we're on? Last time I checked, which was like yesterday, to you the world revolves in a gym."

"People change. What can I say?"

"'I'm dumb for starters'."

"Play nice Bella. Or I won't help you with your problem."

"Fine, I'm sorry. Now tell me all I need to know."

"Don't get mad but I had a little think. I've come up with a different approach....."

* * *

"Hey Brunette, got any more of those funny jokes?" Why did Jessica call me that? I prefer my full name repeated 100 times than that. This wasn't how I wanted to be treated in the afternoon.

"My name's Bella."

"'Brunette' suits you so much better though." I felt sorry for her children. Or if she had any.

"Brunette is brown.....For hair colour."

"That's not funny, tell me a proper joke!" Cue the rolling eyes.

"What I told you yesterday were cusses not jokes."

"Whatever. Just tell me whatever you have." It was time to teach her a lesson.

"Okay.....I think you stepped on something smelly like your feet." I'm a natural for this.

"Don't make fun out of me! It's not my fault I didn't see the shit on the pavement."

"You seriously stepped on shit?"

"Yeah, didn't I say that already?"

"When? I don't smell anything _too_ bad."

"A few days ago but it must have gone when I kicked that old lady." What the fuck?!

"You kicked an old lady!"

"Don't feel any sympathy for that bitch, she got what she deserved. I mean come on, only a selfish lonely bitchy witch would give chocolate chip cookies to the kids on the street. Is it only me who sees past the old fashioned dickhead who makes and donates sweaters to the poor and homeless?" Speechless. That's what I was.

"B-b-but that's a good thing."

"Puh-lease. I've known her all my life."

"What do you mean?"

"She's my grandma. Duh! I've been living in her apartment for the last couple of months. But it won't be hers any longer."

"Why aren't you currently burning in the pits of hell?"

"I've heard that from before. But where from?"

"I have to go now. See ya later." Hoped not.

"Bye, I'll let you know where I heard it from before. Okay?"

"Suuuuuuure." It was probably someone else who she told this story to. I felt sorry for her Grandma. Imagine having a granddaughter like Jessica. I would kill myself before my 'dear' granddaughter does the deed.

Here comes the evil one with a sly grin. He still seems happy. Bastard.

"Hi Bella."

"Don't you 'Hi Bella' me."

"What's wrong Bella? Have I done something to offend you?"

"Yes! I still remember what happened in the morning."

_Flashback:_

_I went straight to my working place instead of going to the coffee machine. I had learnt in the time I have been here that my 'boss' empties the machine because he doesn't get enough sleep. What a load of bull. Probably wastes his 'sleeping time' screwing half the female population of New York. _

_Anyway, I was extra happy and 'in the mood' because 1) coffee was half price today so I ended up getting two cups for the price of one! Even though too much coffee is bad for you, what harm could fall upon me from drinking coffee? I'm in danger every day! It wouldn't make a difference. Plus, I heard that coffee could be the cure to some sort of cancer in the female reproductive system. I don't know if I want to get married or have children or have some sort of commitment but it could be useful in the future. 2) The lost puppy of Spread Magazine wasn't in today. He was cute and all with those exotic blue eyes and honey blonde hair but his personality just repelled me! He just wouldn't get it. After all those times of rejecting him in the morning, at lunch, in the afternoon and when I was storming away from another 'argument' with Edward. It was so annoying. Mike, that was his name, followed me everywhere. Even to the ladies' room! I can't believe he went inside. He was so shocked that there were so many mirrors. I was shocked about that too. _

_Back to the subject, when I reached my working place, I heard the shattering of vases and loud and clear profanities coming from Edward's office. This happened everyday. I tried asking people but they wouldn't tell me anything- it was like they were scared of telling. Plus, when i walk in after five minutes when there is no noise, Edward sits in an __**clean**__ office doing his __**work**__. Strange? I know._

_When I walked in today, he was leaning against his desk facing me with a crooked smile on his face. There was something wrong with him, didn't I hear vases breaking and swearwords that made me proud? Yes I did. So why did he look happy?_

_"Hi Bella. I was waiting for you."_

_"F-f-for what?" That was my brilliant reply. He still had a crooked smile on his face._

_"A surprise but first I heard this new quote and I must say, I loved it! Do you want to hear it?"_

_"Sure go on."_

_"Love is a sensation, caused by temptation, to feel penetration. A guy sticks his location in a girl's destination, to increase the population for the next generation, did you get my explanation, or do you need a demonstration?" _

_**He was hitting on me,again! **__Remember what Emmett taught you again._

_"That's a good quote."_

_"It is?" Poor Edward, he looked beyond shocked. I bet he didn't expect me to behave in this manner. But I had to teach him a lesson._

_"Do you want to hear mine?"_

_"Uh......"_

_"Here's one especially for you: How 'bout I sit on your lap and we'll see what pops up?"_

_All the colour drained from Edward's face. I heard a thud. It didn't take an idiot to realize that he fainted. It was my fault that he fainted. If I didn't say it, he would be still standing here...Get a grip Bella, he just fainted. Yeah, from shock.....I shocked him. _

_"Are you just going to stand there?!" Oh my god! I must be feeling an extra portion of guilt 'coz I didn't see that strange man walk in. _

_"Who are you?" _

_"I'm Aro Volturi but first there's an unconscious man lying on the floor with no medical help!"_

_"Relax, he just fainted." Guilt gone. Didn't take long. Of course not, this man is good looking. Nothing compared to Edward but this man- i mean Aro represents the Sun with his fairly tanned skin, ocean blue eyes and glossy black hair. I like the Sun. _

_"Call 9-1-1. Hurry!" _

_"Why?" He just fainted. _

_"I can't feel a pulse!" _


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns twilight, not me.

I spent two hours at Edward's luxurious apartment. This was because when I was about to dial 9-1-1, paramedics rushed into the office and claimed that the hospital was busy with no vacancies so they had to take him to his apartment to treat him. What a great place to die in.

I did not drink or eat anything, hell, I did not even go to the toilet when I desperately needed to. I was overcome with guilt. He was so young and I hate to admit it but even handsome but that was an understatement.

'_Why was i talking in the past tense? He's not even dead yet' _was all I thought about.

He was kept and observed in his room with Aro as his guard. The guy did not even leave the room, none of the paramedics did. A doctor came in at some point and I was prepared to follow him and ask about how Edward was doing.

I was just about to enter Edward's room but Aro restricted me from doing so. Who on earth did he think he was? I'm Edward's goddamn secretary and he's some 'big shot' who happens to find an unconscious guy (who he probably does not even know) lying on the floor in his office. And how did he even know that Edward was unconscious? Edward's not heavy...I heard a thud when Edward fell but come on, that was a light sound! Either something was up or Aro had super-hearing!

Aro finally came out after one hour and forty minutes, counting the time was the only thing that kept me sane, and had a look of sympathy on his face. I hoped the look on his face didn't indicate what he was really about to tell me.

Aro quietly sat down next to me and held my fingers in his hand. It was a sweet gesture. Step out of it Bella! It's not normal to keep changing opinions about people that quickly.

"I'm so sorry Bella but I don't know how to say this," Aro whispered.

"Say what?" I whispered just as quietly.

"How shall I put this? Edward's no more- heart failure."

I couldn't speak. I was so shocked. What happened? What really happened? I felt myself lost. Sure, he hit on me several times but he could not have been that bad of a person. I barely knew him. The only proper conversation I had with him was on my first day when he asked me if I wanted to grab a cup of coffee. We played a game of twenty questions but it was never personal. He asked me random questions like, 'Is that your natural hair colour?' or 'Did you know that your eyes get bigger when you get shocked?'. I never even asked about his personal life. He didn't mind actually but his answers to the questions I asked were so perfect. It was like he knew exactly what to say. It shocked me at first but I got the hang of things.

"Are you okay?" Aro had a concerned look on his face.

"I'm fine Aro. Do you know anything about his family?"

"He has none. I have a friend in the Police Department who checked for me. Do you want to see him? He's still in his room."

"Yes please."

Edward's bedroom shocked me. It was not what I expected. I thought his room would be plain and boring and lacked the personal touch. Instead, the walls were a rich red colour and the _soft, soft _carpet was dark blue. The king sized bed which Edward lied in, had a warm violet comforter and I could tell the bed was something to peacefully sink into. There was a grand black piano and I saw my reflection on it. I didn't know Edward could play.

There were expensive picture frames on the walls which mostly consisted of Edward and a group of beautiful people. In one, was Edward with a stunning blonde with blue eyes. He looked as old as Edward. As I moved along the wall, more and more people were in the photos: a redhead, guy with the dreadlocks, a different blonde guy who looked older than the rest and a mesmerizing woman with caramel hair who looked older than the rest but younger than the older blonde guy. In the last photo, there was Edward, a woman with the strange and same colour of hair and eyes as Edward's and a man with the same cheekbones as Edward's. They were all smiling and looked _genuinely _happy to be there. They must be or must have been his family.

Finally, Edward. He lied on his bed and he was as pale as ever. I sat on the edge of the bed and wondered what was a good way to say good bye to an acquaintance. However, I was probably the only one who was going to see him here before he was buried or cremated or what ever. _So, whatever comes out of my mouth will be decent because I am a bit upset_, I thought.

"Hey, Edward. How's it hanging?" Well that's a bit stupid since he's dead. "Um, what I really mean is what's it like in heaven? Or if you're in hell. Or if you're just dead. What am I saying? Ignore that. Let's start afresh. Just because I didn't know you that well or didn't bother to try......Scratch that. I think you're a nice guy, even though you behaved cocky and an ass to me. Delete that."

_He needs a proper send off, don't ruin it for him Bella._

"We didn't have a good start but now, we can have a good ending. You were a good boss because you let me go early when I had an emotional breakdown and I'm sorry to say but I lied to you. I didn't promise my grandma to save my virginity for my husband. Funny, I lost it to my 'faithful and loving' boyfriend in my room while my dad and his was watching a match downstairs. It only lasted about three minutes and that was the last time I had sex. Don't tell anyone though. My best friend Alice thinks I lost it when my boy friend took me on a special Valentines date. Instead, he broke up with me and I ended up lost in a forest for seven hours. No-one knows the real story, my boy friend _thought _I got home safely after he broke the news to me. The bitter truth was that, I got home 'safely' after seven hours after he told me the news. It doesn't bother me now, but I would get a bit crazy if I see him again. Moving on....There's nothing more to say really. We only met at work and once we went to a coffee shop on my first day. So, I hope that this send off satisfied you and good luck in the future. Or whatever. And I think you're good looking."

I began to start the water-works and I was shocked at myself. I was crying for my boss. The same boss who treated me as some sort dirt on his shoe.

"How did you like your surprise?" Who said that? I looked at Edward and I screamed. His eyes were open and he had a sly grin on his face. There was a object in his hand. I didn't notice that before. "How did you like your surprise?" He repeated.

"What surprise?" There was no harm in asking.

"The surprise where I pretend to be dead, record everything you say to me and give you the shock of your life."

"Oh that surprise. Record this, 'You're a cunning, vile, despicable, evil, horrid, loathsome-'"

"Now now Bella, I think you'll find that I have the upper hand here."

"Are you trying to say what I think you're trying to say? Blackmail! True, I don't know you that well but I never thought you could stoop this low! First, you pretend to be dead which makes me feel guilty. Second, you record everything I say so you can blackmail me!"

"It isn't blackmail."

"No? Then what is it? Oh great one."

"It's negotiation."

"How?"

"You do ten things I tell you to do then I'll give you the tape."

"Forget it."

"Would you rather have your best friend finding about what really happened on the day you 'lost' your virginty on? Would you like the office to know more about you?"

"You're the spawn of the devil."

"It benefits us both."

"How? I'm your secretary. You tell me to do things and I do it, it's my job. You make me do this, then I would still be doing my job."

"Then think of this as a job."

"Then I would be considered as a prostitute."

"Surely you wouldn't think of the tasks I create to be sexual?"

"I don't know how much further you can sink."

"If we weren't talking about a business proposition, I wouldn't hesitate to say, 'If you and I were squirrels, I'd store my nuts in your hole'."

"Funny. But there's things I don't understand. How did you plan all of this out?"

"Being a lawyer has its perks. I have connections, if I didn't how would I have got a good actor like Aro who isn't a professional actor? I saved him millions of dollars and he's grateful enough to help a friend out. I can easily hide my emotions, I could have a blank look on my face when the most funniest story has been told. I could even look _dead_. And you didn't know this but I can read people. I got this trait from my father, he's a lawyer too. All I need to do is to look at someone's eyes, body language or on how they speak. It's very useful, I know who the Judge and Jury are most believing and I could easily push them in my direction. But you're a hard puzzle, you only give me the basic reactions like happiness or anger but I could tell you were going to crack and why not give you the element of surprise?"

"Clever. Fine. I give in. What's my first 'task'?"

"Let me think. What can I do?.....I could do that but you won't like that....Got it!"

"I'm losing patience. What is it?"

"For one month, you have to pretend to be my pregnant wife."


	6. Chapter 6 A Xmas treat for the reader

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns twilight, not me.

"Y-you and me? Baby? Month? Y-you…me…baby? For a m-month? Mad? You and me. Together. YOU AND ME TOGETHER FOR A WHOLE FLIPPING MONTH?! ARE YOU MAD?!"

I was beyond pissed. For a whole month, he wanted me to pretend to be his pregnant wife. Had he finally gone off his rocker? What was he playing at? For a whole month! Who knows when he will give that bloody tape back! This was the first task; the others might take twice as long. He might order me to kill someone. He might force me into sex. He could command me to run through New York City naked and wet and muddy. He would be completely in charge of me, and I'll be able to nothing, say nothing because of that stupid tape! He'll be the dominant one and I'll be his puppet for his needs. What an asshole!

When I looked up to him, he was smirking. He knows that he had beaten me in this 'game'. Well, I'm not just going to let some crazy, pig-headed, flirty, too-many-pick-up-lines dude mess with me! I had to up my game and get the ball rolling in my court. Even if I had to pretend that he 'won'.

Think Bella, what could I do? How could I turn it backwards? Play the joke on him. Let him know how I felt when I found out he faked his death, blackmailed and is still doing and using me like I'm his pawn.

I am not a pushover!

"I thought you were smart Bella. If you were, you would say 'yes'," noted Edward. Fine, if this was how he wanted me to react I will.

"Yes." I secretly hoped this shocked him.

"Good, you are finally getting the hang of things. You are smart." Too bad he wasn't what I wanted him to be. A real bummer.

"Thanks for the compliment. Too bad I can't say the same thing for you."

"Are you implying that I'm unintelligent?" that actually hit a spot on Edward. Maybe his weakness is on his ego. Hit it on the right spot, and maybe I could finally do some damage. "I have an IQ of 133. I'm a lawyer for Christ's sake! I don't see how you could top that." I injured his ego, go me! I couldn't believe he had a go at me! Even though it was shallow, he had no right to spill his fury on me!

"Top what? Your job status? If I wanted to, I could have had a better job than you and believe me, I work hard to get what I want."

"Oh yeah? Then why are you my secretary? Why aren't you some big-shot business woman or a world famous doctor who could find a cure for AIDS?" I wanted to shout, 'you don't know anything about me you asshole! I faint after smelling blood so I can't be a doctor and I think people in the business world belong to a certain place under the ground we walk on because of their actions!' But I knew Edward; he would try to suck more information out of me and blackmail me with another embarrassing fact about me.

"Those jobs don't fascinate me. I wanted to be a writer but it's not for me."

"Why is that? Not creative enough or were the good ideas taken?"

"None of your damn business."

"It is my damn business because I care about my employees."

"Now you care about your employees? Didn't you care or stopped and thought what your actions would impact on me? I acted like a crazy person. I actually thought you died because I said one pick up line and therefore, you got shocked." It felt good to blurt it out.

"That wasn't the reaction I was hoping for but it satisfied me."

"What were you looking for?" I asked, the curiosity getting the better of me.

"Something along the lines of you going crazy and realizing your feelings for me." WHAT?! Either he was playing with me or he was just plain crazy!

"What feelings? That I hate you so much that it's starting to hurt my head or how I feel when I have dreams where I strangle you with your tie and burn you with the hot coffee you drink?"

"You don't mean that Bella, I know how you feel for me. I know you like me hitting on you." He was nowhere near the truth.

"What are you on?"

"Coffee and paracetamol."

"Overdose?" I found it hard to imagine a guy like Edward who could have been high on crack or on weed claim coffee and paracetamol as his source of him pretending to die or to think that I have feelings for him! The craziest thing I saw a man do when high was when I was fifteen in Forks High and he ran into the school claiming that the world was ending, surprisingly he took all of his clothes off and tried to protect the 'ash' falling from the sky, which was rain, from touching his skin. I think he was high on marijuana or something.

"I had a headache!" Informed Edward, like I wanted to know everything going around him…..That wouldn't have been a bad idea but what I don't know won't hurt me.

"Anyway, I don't have any dreamy or enchanting feelings for you. And I hate you hitting on me, it angers me more." No-one likes the bitter truth but I could only hurt Edward emotionally if I said something along the lines of, 'you're not a good lawyer'.

"It will work on you soon, don't worry." Why was he patting my head when he said that? I moved a step backward and he moved a step forward. This reminded me of a cat and a mouse game. Currently, I was the mouse but soon, I'll be the cat.

"Do your lines actually work?"

"Of course it does. It gets me laid doesn't it." Disgusting!

"You're sick and I mean in the bad way you know?" He gave me an odd look when I started to make gagging noises. "All you do is say something witty and then they fall head over heels in love with you. How pathetic!"

"Jealous much?"

"Jealous me? You don't know me at all. I'm glad I haven't slept with you, who knows how many sexually transmitted diseases you have."

"None actually."

"Shocking."

"Shut up! It's not like you could do better. When was the last time you had sex? Years ago." Steam came out of my ears. No-one but me and Alice knew about the last** time **I had sex, and he had no right to keep on making me remember why I stopped physical acts all together.

"My personal life has nothing to do with you."

"You would have made a good lawyer, not as good as me but you are capable of amusing comebacks." I snorted.

"Stop flattering yourself."

"I'm not even trying to!"

"So it's natural for you to compliment yourself when you're trying to compliment someone else?"

"That and don't forget the pick-up-lines."

"Having pick-up lines as a talent isn't a good thing."

"Of course it is, it shows how creative and sexy I can be."

"Sexy? Maybe but creative? If that was true, I would be able to hit on anyone."

"Looks who's flattering themselves. Anyway, you have to be creative so the comment has an effect on the person."

"Have to be? How many have you used?"

"Plenty. But I can't repeat them."

"If that's the case, how many have you wasted on me? Probably ten or something higher. That's a noble deed."

"The reverse actually. We don't repeat ourselves because it could cause problems in the future; let's say I go to a nice bar and I see a hot chick with footballs for boobs and pillows for an ass-"

"You're disgusting and a bad name to your gender."

"Anyway, as I was saying, I use a line on her and it works and then I go to her place or she goes to mine and-"

"Skip this bit."

"The next day or something like that, I meet her again but I don't remember and I use the same line on her, it would cause chaos and the unexpected."

"What's the unexpected?"

"I don't know. That's why I called it unexpected. But I avoid it because this guy in Chicago got his balls castrated by the girl's brother. Nasty stuff if you ask me."

"You're telling me this because(?)"

"I wanted to tell you that he got his balls chopped off by the girl's brother."

"It was a rhetorical question."

"Then why were you waiting for an answer(?)"

"I wasn't."

"It was a rhetorical question."

"God! You are so infuriating!"

"Another good quality of mine." I heard and saw the smirk on his face. My inner walls broke, I couldn't go on like this. I was still in his room and after five minutes of him 'waking up', he managed to piss me off and insult me numerous times. It was a big achievement for him because I normally exploded after dealing with him several times. But today was different, he managed do it in under six minutes. Wasn't there a category for this type of stuff in the Guinness book of world records? If not, there should be!

"Why do we have to fight and banter?" I asked, I hoped I would get a decent reply from Edward.

Edward dragged me to the bed and pushed my shoulders down so I would sit on the bed. It was comfortable and I imagined lying on it, with Edward by my side and we were both naked after a night of passion…..

"Go back to the office, there's work to be done. It's still morning and there's no reason for you to stop working." Edward said, which snapped me back to reality.

I blushed and it was nothing like in the past; I felt the hot blood rushing to my face and I felt dizzy. I thought Edward was reading my mind and I felt uncomfortable like when I accidentally left my bra on my way home in one of the washing machines at the laundrettes. Everyone in the small town of Forks saw it, even Charlie who blushed when he read my name on the label.

I blushed harder if it was possible and I could tell Edward was getting pissed that I was blushing the colour of a tomato and he didn't know why and that I didn't get off the bed and out of his flat.

I was about to get up when I remembered why in the first place I was blushing. I fell back onto the bed with me sinking into the soft comforter and I had the sudden urge to jump on the bed, to see how high I could jump and if my head would be able to touch or in other words bang onto the ceiling.

I imagined me doing it and then me typically falling off the bed and spraining my whole body and then Edward having a fit because he would have to take me to the hospital. It would have been hilarious if my whole body wasn't bruised or bandaged.

Those thoughts shattered when Edward lied back onto the bed _with me._ _It was his bed remember?_ The blood rushed back to my face and I tried to think why I thought of those things. Edward was looking at me curiously and deeply. I felt that through my eyes, he could see my soul and all of my thoughts. I looked around the room, Edward was still looking at me and I felt like I was in a zoo and was being judged upon.

I wanted his gaze to lose interest in me, go somewhere else. I didn't want to continue to see my reflection in his beautiful and piercing green eyes. I remembered the joke Emmett told me in twilight a couple of days ago.

_What was it again?_ _Oh yeah._ **There were four men who were all friends and worked together. One of them was deaf but could still talk to communicate. In the morning, they would all sit together but the other three men would have a conversation while the deaf man read his newspaper. He didn't like to be disturbed and was short tempered. One morning, a beautiful blonde passed by and smiled at them. The deaf man was too busy reading his newspaper to notice the woman and the reaction his friends had; their mouths hanged open and their eyes popped out of their sockets. It was love at first sight for all three of them. All three talked to her behind each other's back and after three months of this, they all found out that they were going out with her. They didn't care that she was cheating on each of them but all that mattered was keeping her. The first man said, "We have chemistry and we understand each other clearly."**

**The second man said that they looked well together in photos and showed his two friends pictures of them together and some of her alone. The third man said that he was the only one out of the three of them who could make her really happy and when they had sex, he could see the lust in her eyes. The second man said that when they fucked, the bed banged into the wall and the whole building could hear them going at it. The first man said that when they MADE LOVE, it was sweet and they both felt connected towards eachother. **

**All three men were full of jealousy so they got violent and one accidentally got pushed onto the deaf man who had no idea what was going on. The deaf man quickly got angry because they stopped him reading. Before he could shout at them, the second man showed him a photo of the beautiful blonde alone. The deaf man smiled and asked, "What do you think of my wife?" **

I started giggling. Not because of the joke but because I remembered where I was, who I was with and why I had to tell myself the joke.

I turned back to Edward and he looked at me like I was crazy. My giggles turned into laughter and to be honest, I sounded like a hyena. It was then that Aro erupted into the room and I fell off of the bed. My face came into contact of the soft carpet and it was really soft! I laid there for about a few seconds until someone picked me and sat me on the bed. I secretly hoped it was Aro, I know 'shame on me!' after everything he had done but after thinking of the past, he reminded me of Jacob who was my personal Sun. Too bad it was Edward who lifted me up and there was a smirk on his face. He jerked his head in Aro's direction. I followed the movements and Aro also had a smirk on his face. **BOTH **of them looked evil, very evil.

Aro spoke and it sent chills up and down my spine, "You may fall from the sky, you may fall from the bed or tree, but the best way to fall…is in love with me."

Not another one! Edward chuckled and Aro looked content from my reaction; I was speechless and I'm sure they saw fire in my eyes.

If this got into a verbal fight, it would have been unfair as it was two against one. I got up to leave. It was Edward's turn to speak, "I don't care how you're feeling but get back to work. It's eleven, I'll see you later. Oh and Bella, do you sleep on your stomach?"

I gave him a dirty look. He saw it as a confirmation to go on, "If not, can I?"

I didn't bother to reply and I left Edward's apartment but before, I banged his door to let him know that I wasn't pleased. I definitely wasn't going to be his puppet. There were three things I had to do:

1) Play this game and win. The score was 1-1; the grandma Marie bit and his 'death'.

2) I had to get the tape back, even if I had to break into Edward's apartment. I don't know how but I will, even if I had to seduce Edward. That wasn't a bad idea actually.

3) Fight back! He wanted me to act like his pregnant wife, then I will. Rumours might be good to work with; anyone would believe me because I am his 'wife'. I could even 'accidentally' wet his trousers with a drink but he might get suspicious of me sabotaging his plans.

After tripping a couple of times while I thought of my to-do list, I rushed to work to seem innocent and trustworthy. Yeah I know, I'm sneaky and could be manipulating if I had the chance…………….


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns twilight, not me.

So that was the story. And right now, Edward was following me to my desk. I was still pissed about the incidents that happened in the morning. He really played me, not once or twice but **eight** times! I sat on my chair and rested my head on the desk. Edward was standing in front of the desk with a smirk on his face. How I badly wanted to wipe it off, you'll never know.

Edward finally spoke, "You can't be that much irritated." I was going to say a range of colourful swearwords at him but then I thought that I could start my plan now; instead of waiting. This was a perfect opportunity and I was all riled up for the performance of a lifetime!

"I'm not irritated just tired. Why would you assume that?" I said while battling my eyelashes. The tables have turned and Edward looked gob smacked.

Edward did not reply to my query but instead his mouth was formed into an O shape and he looked much like a fish; an attractive fish. Seducing Edward is not a bad idea actually. He's not an seventy eight year old who has a walking stick and needs special pills to make an erection. He's a twenty something year old with beautiful striking green eyes, bed hair and has a fine ass. Even though his ass was out of my sight, it didn't mean that I couldn't dream about it.

Until now, I was confused on what people saw in his ass. I often found everyone in the office except from me of course staring at his buttocks while he strolled past. Now I was like everyone else; I fantasized of spanking his backside. Once, I nearly did but the cold glares I received from the office sluts made me back off. Thank god for that though, I would have never heard the end of it from Edward.

Anyway, back to the subject of seducing Edward. I wouldn't have to sleep with him would I? 'No', I told myself. All I had to do was to make him want me, earn his trust and get the keys to his apartment (I couldn't break in) then get the tape and deny any feelings for him. Even though I would be acting and there would be no feelings except from hate and amusement. _I wonder if I could give him a hard on._I knew I would not be able to because well, I'm a plain Jane, a bore of a snore. Brown hair and brown eyes aren't interesting and if Jessica could not give him one from bending down in the 'clothing' she called a 'mini mini skirt' with no underwear under I had no chance. By the way, I'm no pervert 'cause I saw but I think Jessica likes showing off her terribly tanned legs and the 'rat' upstairs to anyone; even Mike Newton. That's strange, he was not here in the morning and when I re-entered the lobby, he wasn't there either. Normally, Mike would know where I was and 'accidentally' bump into me. Mike's only here when it's a bad day but when he's not; it's a really bad day. If there was no Mike Newton, I might have good days even though that sounded selfish and nothing like me. The lack of coffee and the more of Edward was getting to me. If this goes on, Edward Masen would be the death of me.

I was disturbed from my thoughts as Edward chuckled. It was a beautiful sound coming from his mouth.

"What?" I asked rudely.

"Are you day dreaming about me Bella?" What happened to the speechless Edward? I liked him better that way! _No you do not like Edward in anyway. Wait…Why am I calling Edward Edward? Oh dear God, I'm going mad! _"I was correct; you are day dreaming about me."

I snapped out of whatever I was in. Did he seriously think I was day dreaming about him? "You must be s-" I stopped talking. Breathe Bella, breathe. _I will not let him get to me, I will not let him get to me. _My eyes focused onto Edward. He had one eyebrow raised and was waiting for me to continue. I thought he wasn't a patient man with all the time I was taking. Huh, he probably thought I was staring at him but in fact I was thinking. Holy shit! I was about to call my boss stupid. Out of all of the circumstances, I could get fired over this. _I wouldn't mind being fired but the pay was good and I had some legal benefits…. _I pushed that block of thought away and I thought of anything to cover it up. "As I was saying, you must be…..silly…smart, yeah silly smart." D'oh!

"Silly smart?" I was embarrassed and Edward looked purely amused.

"Yeah you know…….You're being silly at the same time as being smart."

"How was I being smart and silly at the same time?"

"You're the guy with an IQ of a hundred and something. Shouldn't you know?"

"Shouldn't you know how to explain things that you prove you know about?"

"I-I-I-I…..Hey, look, we're both being silly smart." I mentally slapped my forehead; I was being an idiot.

Edward chuckled again but it sounded deeper and more masculine. "What's so funny?" I question hoping it was nothing to do with my stupidity while I was trying to be clever. Stupid me!

"I was a few minutes behind you to get here from my apartment. I saw you roughly closing the cab door."

"So?"

"Well I thought to myself 'If you were a car door, I would slam you all night long'." Oh no he didn't. Oh yes he did. Oh no he- "You know what I love about Valentines Day?"

I ignored the latest line. Was he trying to floor me? It nearly worked; but my mouth only dropped.

Wait, did he just say Valentines Day? He was going off randomly but I was interested. He might even be romantic…..I shook my head 'no'. So he continued, "The quotes to put in the cards. My favourite one is 'Roses are red, candle lights flicker, after the meal, it's off with the knickers'."

Oh look, another line. Come to think of it, seducing Edward is not a good idea. He has features of a living God but I can't tolerate the rubbish that comes out of his mouth!

I stood up quickly. It was barely passed four but I had to leave. He was driving me insane and I needed peace to myself. I sat myself down again, I knew Edward wouldn't let me leave even if I asked really nicely. Then I thought of crying so I stood up. I was about to start the waterworks but then I remembered that I already did this, _and look where that got me._ So I sat down, again. I was looking for something to help me get out. I eyed Edward's tie, was I thinking of strangling Edward with it? No, that happened in a dream and believe me, it did not end well. A word popped in my head:

Seduction.

I grinned. I stood up again and went around the desk to the front of it. I leaned back so my ass was resting on it and my right foot was stroking Edward's thigh. I smiled cheekily at Edward whose eyes were clamped shut and I dare say, a moan of pleasure came out from him. I took it to the next step, I stopped.

3

2

1

Edward's eyes shot up open. His eyes were dark with lust. He was about to speak but I leaned in closer to him. I traced his jaw with my index finger. Electricity spread through my whole body. I chose to ignore it. He shivered in delight. I gently pulled his tie and lead him to the sofas. I pushed him down roughly. He liked that. I straddled his lap, I was uncomfortable but I desperately wanted to leave. His erection was boldly poking out and resting on my stomach. Who would have thought that I could give him a hard on?

I played with his bronze hair. It was silky and soft. I tilted towards Edward's left ear. I still played with his hair. "Will you do me a favour?" I purred.

"Yes, God yes. Anything for you." His voice was husky and it turned me on. _Focus on the task. _So I did.

"Do I have to ask or will you just," I nibbled on his ear, "Say 'yes'?"

"No need to ask. But you're mine now." His voice was throaty. He lifted and laid me on the sofa. He was on top of me. I suddenly panicked. _What am I going to do now? Nice going Bella. _

Another word popped into my head:

Pain.

"Ow, you're hurting me Mr. Masen." I said seductively.

"Say my name again," he demanded.

"I will if you le- change our position." He reluctantly pulled me up but I was on top this time. Good, it was easier to escape.

"Say it!" His demand was more fierce.

"Mr. Masen, see you tomorrow." I suddenly jumped of him and ran out of the room, with Edward hot on my trail. He was fast and was quickly gaining on me. Luckily, an empty elevator opened up and I tripped inside. I rapidly pushed the button for the doors to close. I took a breath of air when the doors were closing. Edward was close but not too close for him to reach the elevator in time. Before the doors closed, I saw a look of fury and determination on his face. He was flushed and his eyes were darker; from lust and anger. Was I going to get it tomorrow or what? I was terrified for tomorrow but then again, this was Edward. He would pretend this never happened so I couldn't rub it in his face. All I had to worry about was to get out of the building and ditch Edward.

The doors pinged open, I was on the ground floor. I thought I was out of danger so I walked as I normally would in the lobby. I was wrong. I was near the doors when I heard an all too familiar voice explode "ISABELLA SWAN!"

I was shitting myself. The whole lobby turned silent. Eyes were on me and Edward. For the first time in my life, I wasn't blushing from all the attention I got. No, my face was drained of colour. Before Edward got anywhere near me, I sprinted out of the building. Luck was finally on my side, I saw an empty cab but Mike Newton was getting in. _Where was he today?_ I ran faster if that was possible to that cab and pulled him out with all of my strength. I kissed him on the cheek and pushed him further away from me so we didn't share it. I swiftly got in and told the driver to step on it. Before I went out of view, I saw Mike Newton touching the cheek I kissed and no doubt Edward was swearing.

"Where to?" The driver asked. I thought of going to twilight to talk to Emmett but then Alice popped in my head. I felt guilty, ever since I got this job and met Emmett, I barely spoke to Alice and she was my best friend and room mate!

I gave him the address of my building. I arrived there in ten minutes, _well that was quick. _I paid the fare and tipped him generously. I entered the building and soon, I entered my apartment.

"Hello? Alice?" I asked. The appartment was quiet. Alice was always home at this time, I was certain of it.

"In here Bella." Phew! I rushed into her room, I wanted to tell her the events of today. I froze when I saw the state of her room. Normally, everything was in place and her clothes, footwear and accessories were in her walk in closet. But today, her whole room was a mess; clothes everywhere, shoes here and there and a used condom hanging on the closet door. _Eww! How did that get there? _

Alice noticed me staring at the condom, she giggled, removed it and disposed it. I inspected the room closer and froze again when I saw suitcases on her bed and on the floor. Alice again noticed me looking at something abnormal. "You won't believe it Bella! Jasper asked me to go to Paris with him! I have a feeling that he's going to propose! Oh my God. Oh my God!"

I turned to 'Best friend' mode and couldn't help but feel happy for her. Jasper and her had been dating for a long time, a very long time.

"Oh Ali! I'm so happy for you! I'm the Maid of Honour right?"

"Of course. Who else would be it?" We both hugged each other while jumping up and down.

"Wait." We both stopped jumping and hugging. "If you're packing now, then when is your flight?"

"Tonight."

"Tonight! Then why are you letting me distract you? Hurry up!"

"Thanks Bella, by the way, you are welcome to use anything in the closet. Remember, I expect you to."

"Yes Ali. Enjoy your flight and remember to act surprised when he proposes."

"Don't worry I will. Where are you going?"

"To see a friend. Don't get any thoughts, he is a friend and he's getting married. Remember I asked you to be my plus one but you and Jasper had plans?"

"Oh yeah. Bye Bella, see you in two weeks time."

"Bye." I left the apartment and the building with a smile on my face. Finally, Alice was getting somewhere in her relationship. I caught a cab and told the driver to take me to twilight club.

I remembered the last time I was in a cab. Where did I get the courage and ideas from? How was I able to seduce Edward, give him an erection, successfully run away from him and kiss Mike Newton? Even if it was on the cheek. I surprised myself and I'm sure I surprised Edward and Mike Newton.

I arrived at twilight and again paid my fare but this time, paid no tip. I entered easily since it was the afternoon and I knew how to bribe people affordably. I looked around for Emmett. Surprisingly it was crowded and full of men! I went to the bar, normally Emmett would be sitting on a stool but the stools were empty. I sat on one.

"Did you see a large guy with curly brown hair around here?" I asked the bartender.

"Yeah, there was a fight and he got kicked out. Him and the fit blonde." I hoped they weren't in an argument. Emmett loves her.

"When?"

"Ten minutes ago."

"How? If it was ten minutes ago, this place would look like a mess."

"Fights happen and we know how to deal with it."

"Who was it between?"

"The guy you were looking for and another man, I hadn't seen him here before. He wasn't nearly as big as the guy you know but he had back up."

"How did it start?"

"The new guy approached the blonde who I think was the big guy's girl and flirted with her. The big guy got angry and punched him. The new guy started fighting him and it wasn't long before his mates got involved. We sent the big guy and blonde out. The new guy left shortly after but his mates stayed."

"Are they still here?" Why was I asking this question, I don't know. He pointed to a bunch of men in the corner. I didn't recognise all but one; a blonde, he looked familiar but where had I seen him before?

Strangely, the blonde noticed me looking at him. Familiarity flashed in his eyes. He made his way towards me leaving his friends behind who were too wasted to care.

"Hi Bella." It was obvious he knew me but why didn't I know him?

"Who are you?" He found my lack of information amusing and laughed coldly.

"I'm not going to tell you. Why should I? I have never met you before." He confused me more.

"Then how do you know my name?"

"It's not wise to tell. But let me tell you this," he leaned in closer, "The person who was looking for you will not get you."

What did he mean by that? Did he mean Emmett? Was Emmett looking for me?

"Where is Emmett?"

"Who? Don't you mean Edward?"

He knew Edward. _He knew Edward._Now I knew where I had seen him before; in Edward's photos. Today when I was in Edward's room, I looked around. There were photo frames on the wall of Edward and other beautiful people. This blonde man next to me was in those photos! I had to get out, he knew Edward and I didn't know this man. He was a stranger who I couldn't trust.

I ran out. It was dark outside._ That's funny, it was bright and cloudless before I came in. _It started raining. No cars or cabs came this way. The whole street was deserted. The only sound I heard was from twilight. I couldn't go back in, I knew no one in there. I started walking even if it was in the rain, I was about to cross the road when a hand covered my mouth. I was pulled in a tight embrace by the blondeman. He pushed me into the back seat of a car. He got in and locked the doors. He started driving while I started banging on the windows for anyone to help me, save me.

No one was there. The roads he drove on, were empty.

There was no escape.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns twilight, not me.

I tried unlocking my doors on my left and right but it was locked. I was wrong though; there was an escape. But it was next to the strange blonde man. If I just unlocked his door, all the other doors would be unlocked for my escape.

The problem was that **I **had to unlock **his** door and if I successfully did that and ran, he would be smart enough to **chase** me on foot or in the car. It was a dead end both ways.

Currently, I was in the middle of the three seats and I had given up banging on the windows. No-one was there; outside or inside the broken buildings we went past. _Where was everyone?_ I didn't think that I was in New York any more even though there were plenty of signs telling me other wise. I didn't recognise any of the streets he drove past.

Where was he taking me? Was he going to rape me and then kill me or kill me and then just rape me? Though stupid as it seems, it wouldn't be hard to kill and than rape because there might be still a body, it just depends on how the person killed the other person. But something told me Blondie, the blonde who kidnapped me, was capable of a brutal murder. If he killed me, it probably would be a hell of a lot painful and a thousand times worse than the murders that typically happen in horror movies.

I was losing my mind that was for sure. Here I am, trying to **think** to find a way out of here but instead all I could think about was horror movies!

I took deep breathes to clear my mind. I was waiting for something to pop in my head. Nothing did. So I thought about the others things that popped in my head today:

Seduction: Hell no! He would take it a lot worser than Edward did.

Hurt: Yeah but not me this time. I could hit him……_But how? Without hurting myself in the process. _

Then a word popped in my head:

Blind.

I was such a random person and one words actually saved me today, random words. At least I knew what to do.

I scooted myself so I was seated on the right. I fit my head through the space between the head rest and the window. My face was a few inches away from his. He knew my new position and if he moved his head in a new angle, he would be close enough to kiss.

Too bad I was not planning or most importantly wanting that. He could clearly see me from the mirrors and I used it to my advantage. I opened and closed my mouth deliberately. To him, it looked like I wanted to engage in a conversation but failed and I possibly looked like I was trying to burp.

I waited in the same position for the perfect moment to strike. I didn't have to wait long; a bend was coming.

Before he could realise what was approaching, I covered his eyes with my hands in one quick moment and unlocked the doors. I opened the door on my right and jumped out. Never in my life, had I thought I would be able to jump out of a car without harming myself. It was truly a miracle!

The car, which I found out was a BMW, swerved off of the road. I didn't care what happened to the car, I just ran faster than I had done today in the direction I came from. I remembered every detail of the roads so it was easy for me to head my way back. I normally had no sense of direction but luck was on my side and common sense.

It stopped raining and I was glad. But the skies unlike before were grey and dull. Surprisingly, it wasn't as windy as I thought it would have been and shockingly, I liked the colour of the sky at the moment and the wind. Even though, I grew up in Forks, the gloomiest place probably in the universe, I hated being there every second. And now, I appreciated it. Somehow, it remembered of Edward; his pale and hard skin, his green eyes which contrast to his bronze hair.

I ran past many broken buildings which I had no desire to stop by. You never know what lies in neglect. Somehow, I didn't slow my pace or stop at all; I continued running. In high school, I was the slowest and could not run straight in under a minute! If only I got chased by a friend of Edward's back in high school. Even though Edward is older by a few years and back then, his friends could be players trying to get laid. I would be running away from cheesy pick up lines!

It was not long before I saw a payphone. _Yes! Thank you to whoever's up there! _As I got in, I realised two things that made my problem bigger:

One) I only had notes, not coins.

Two) Who was I going to call? Alice was probably on the plane with Jasper, my family lived no where near New York, I do not know Emmett's number or Rosalie's. I had no one.

I looked around for fallen coins; there were none. I was shocked at the inside of the payphone. Normally payphones are dirty and the phones hang out and occasionally, there would be bottles of alcohol but in here, was nothing except for the phone. There was a seat but it had gum on it and there was graffiti but that was everywhere. So no luck as there were no coins. Shoot! They only accepted coins. What kind of a payphone was this? Most importantly where was my phone? Oh wait, I didn't have one. Stupid me! If only I let Alice get me one. This was my fault entirely. If I just stayed at the apartment or didn't ask more about the fight Emmett got in, I would have been safe and away from Blondie!

I took deep breathes again to calm myself. At least it was working. Let's see, I know I only have notes and there was no one to contact. I inspected the machine and the phone. I stuck my hand in the change slot…..Oh my god, there were a few coins! I had a ticket out of here! _My luck is back! _I studied the could supply me for a few minutes of conversation, three at the most.

But who was there to phone? I had the coins, but there was no available contact. I looked out of the window and up into the sky. It was still grey and dull. _Edward. _There was Edward! Luckily I knew his numbers; phone and residence.

But where would he be? Would he be still at the office? I didn't have the time and it certainly wasn't on the machine. I looked out to the sky for guidance. I tried to guess the time….Five? Six? When was the last time I took note of the time? Was it at the office? I couldn't remember.

So I had to take a blind leap. I instantly opted for his apartment. Instinct maybe. I dialled his number.

_Ring ring._

_Ring ri-_

"Hello?" Yes! He was home! "Hello?" Speak Bella, speak.

"Hey Edward, look I don't have time I need your help. Your blonde friend kidnapped me!" Wow, I sounded more desperate than I intended to be.

"Ha ha ha. I'm not going to fall for another trick of yours. Believe me." What?! Did he think I was joking with him? Playing with him?

"No Edward believe me! Your blonde friend kidnapped me!"

"Bother someone else with your games; I have things to do."

"No! I need your help. Your friend is crazy! He kidn-"


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns twilight, not me.

The phone was jerked off me. Blondie stared at me curiously, watching like a hawk. He was waiting for a reaction. The phone was hanging on its cords. He looked like hell; he had mud and sticks stuck in his hair, his clothes were muddy and ripped and don't get me started on his face. There was not one part of his face clean, not even his eyes which were bloodshot. The phone was hanging on its cords. Not only was he staring at me, he was silently fuming. Boy was he pissed! I must have seriously messed up his car! The phone was hanging on its cords. Of course! Edward was still there! Blondie didn't hang up!

"EDWA-" I tried screaming for help but Blondie closed the distance between us and dragged my body backwards so my back was pressed up against his torso. The phone was still hanging on its cords and I thought he didn't give a shit about the phone. His muddy hand, and might I say foul-smelling, was securing my mouth shut horribly tight. I also caught the attention of something shiny in his other hand……A blade! He noticed that I noticed so he didn't hesitate to trace my neck with the blade.

"Listen here bitch, either you do as a say and be a good girl or feel the knife. Do you want to die l-"

"James? Are you still at the club?" Thank god, Edward heard Blondie or James on the phone. Hey I thought he was busy, why was he still on the phone?

"H-h-hey Edward, no I'm not. I left with a chick." Was he nervous or scared of Edward or was he scared of getting caught?

"Who were you talking to? What happened to Bella?" Thank god he didn't forget me.

"I was talking to my bitch, who the hell is Bella?" _I'm Bella you asshole and you know it. _Steam was coming out of my ears. I was not his bitch, I was not anything of his. Then the word came back to me:

Hurt.

For once I was glad James was a man. I kicked my foot **hard **backwards at the meeting of his legs. He let go but I felt a pain coming from my throat…..He cut me with his blade, he didn't stab me but he cut me. Blood was running out of the gash. I stopped breathing; I didn't want to faint right here and now with James who was on the floor whimpering in pain.

"James my man, are you okay?" He forgot about me!

"Your man isn't okay, now do you believe me? He fucking kidnapped me!" I shouted a bit harsher that I intended to be.

"Bella! Where are-" Shit! The phone got cut off. _Why didn't I have a few more coins?!_ I was left on my own to defend for myself. James was still in agony but it was decreasing quickly. He would be back on his feet in no time.

So I would get a head's start, I kicked him **hard **in his most sensitive area and ran. I knew twilight wasn't far from here. Running with a cut as massive as Emmett's middle finger, which is bigger than big and not breathing is painful and tiring. I was getting weaker and weaker with every step I took.

I ran, not looking back once. I knew me well, I would trip while looking back and James would be killing me in an instance. Before I knew it, twilight came into view. The bouncer took a good look at me and realised I needed medical aid fast from the look on my face. My body collapsed at the entrance of the club. My heart was pounding in my chest and I was sure everyone heard it.

Everybody froze. All eyes were on me; no doubt security cameras were on me too. After all the incidents that happened today, I blushed the hardest with the hottest blood today. My face was getting hotter; the last time I breathed was before I got cut. I felt bottled up. I had to let go and breathe. My face was getting hotter and I was waving my hands and arms pretty much like a lunatic. No-one had a clue what was going on. They saw blood on my clothes but they didn't know it came from my throat. I looked up towards the ceiling for someone to cover it, for someone to let me breathe. I heard gasps; at least I think it was that. My body felt numb. I felt like someone else watching me. I knew either way this wasn't going to end well; if I breathe or if I don't.

I took the mistake of inhaling oxygen. It was hot, after all I was in a club, but I felt at peace and heat was leaving my face. I was still blushing but I was gaining fuel for my lungs. I started inhaling too much, enough for me to smell the blood. Rust and salt came into my senses. Before anyone assisted me, I fell into a slumber of darkness.

* * *

Everyone was surprised, including me, when I told them I hadn't been to a hospital in New York after the **day** I moved in to my apartment with Alice. Back in Forks and Phoenix, my visits to the hospital were frequent; nine or ten times in a month.

Today was the first time I was admitted into a hospital in New York. I knew the all too familiar smell and sound. This is what I hated about hospitals; they sometimes smelt of blood, not always mine, and something else which I couldn't put my finger on. None of the less, it made me just as sick as blood makes me. But now, I learnt the result of not breathing. I didn't bother opening my eyes; I knew what was in the room.

"I know you're awake."

My eyes were still closed; I wouldn't give in to the people surrounding me. I smelt the same revolting body odour I did long before I blacked out and someone else who I'm sure was the doctor. _Couldn't he have taken a shower or something?! Personal hygiene ring any bells?_

"Stop being such a bitch, open your eyes." Why did he have to speak?

"James, enough." I liked this doctor, even though he knew James and I didn't know him but he certainly put James in his place because James kept his mouth shut. "I'm Carlisle, your doctor feel free to call be my name instead of 'doctor'." I opened my eyes to see two blondes, one sitting and one standing. They both looked familiar; the one sitting was James obviously because I knew him well as he slashed my throat and kidnapped me but the other blonde standing one I never had an encounter with. He was obviously my doctor, Carlisle. And might I add, he was handsome but why bow down to him?

"Hi. What's he doing here?" I asked nicely.

"He's your doctor you fool." James was so kind to answer to my question(!)

"Not him, you! What are you doing here?"

"I'm visiting you." I chose to ignore him, any friend of Edward's had the same attitude. Aro proved that and now James.

"Hi I'm Bella Swan." Introducing myself to Carlisle seemed like a good idea.

"Really? He thought you were Angelina Jolie." It would have been a good idea if James wasn't in here, or anywhere near me.

"James, you're not making this any easier. Why don't you go to my office." It wasn't a question but a request from Carlisle. Surprisingly, James went out! Carlisle certainly knew how to handle people, I wonder if he could sort Edward out?

"Pleasure to meet you Bella, you gave everyone a shock. You certainly know how to create chaos."

"Yeah that's me."

"I was wondering if you could do me a favour. What I'm about to ask you is what I _never _ask people and people related to this would be forever in your debt. Also, if you decline I would understand." Now I was curious. "I was wondering if you would dr-"

"Bella!"


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns twilight, not me.

Carlisle was rudely interrupted none other than Rosalie and Emmett! They ran into the room and I'm sure Rosalie did more than a simple pat on Carlisle's shoulder. I was right.

"Oh my god are you okay? I'm sorry; I didn't mean to push you." Rosalie offered a hand to Carlisle who looked more than fine on the floor. I wondered if he normally got pushed by over excited females.

"No no, it's okay. I was just leaving, I'll talk to you later Bella when I finish my rounds." Carlisle left the room. _What did he want with me? _I turned my gaze to Rosalie and Emmett. Rosalie looked happy; her wedding with Emmett was approaching. Emmett looked bad, very bad. His lip was cut with dried blood, thank god I couldn't smell it and he had a black eye. Oh yeah, he had a fight.

"So, I heard you had a fight in twilight." I informed, trying to break the silence. I succeeded.

"WHO GIVES A FUC-" Emmett boomed.

"Emmett, shush and I want to sit down." Rosalie silenced Emmett.

Emmett got up and I felt a pain near my ankles. "Shit! Someone please the call the doctor! I feel pain, it fuckin' hurts!" I exclaimed.

The pain was gone and I saw Emmett and Rosalie giving me curious looks and nurses and doctors giving me a rain check.

"Relax, Bella. Emmett just sat on you." The nurses and doctors gave Emmett a dirty look and exited. What the hell?

"How heavy are you? Your ass is hard." I couldn't believe I was talking about his behind.

"I know, Rose can't even leave a scratch, let alone a bite." Emmett _had_ to inform us about that little piece of information.

"Emmett McCartney! You want a bet that I can leave more than a scratch on that peachy ass? Tonight mister, tonight." Eww! Mental images!

"Oh Rosie, can't we do it now? Bella won't mind, we'll just push her off the bed and do our daily rituals." More mental images! Disgusting!

"Emmett!" Shockingly, Rosalie and I both barked at Emmett.

To change the subject I asked Rosalie about the wedding.

"I can't wait, it's next week! A week from now I'll be Mrs. Rosalie Hale McCartney! You got your invitation right? I hope you bring your plus one, you only know Emmett and I and most the guys going to be there are already hooked."

"Thanks. Congratulations in advance."

"No, thank you! I'm just worried about Emmett's looks-"

"Hey! What's wrong with my looks?!"

"Emmett, you idiot! Why did you have to pick a fight with that guy?"

"He flirted with you!"

"I didn't flirt back!" Rosalie bit back. If I didn't do something, there probably wouldn't be a wedding at all!

"Here comes the bride, all dressed in white, where is the groom? In the toilet room, where is the ring? In the toilet thing." I sang quite badly if I do say so myself.

"This is a hospital stupid!" Emmett had to add more heat in the fire.

"You're stupid! She's trying to calm us down!" Rosalie updated.

"Oh sorry guys, cold feet."

"Normally guys get cold feet **really** near the wedding." I stated.

"Who said anything about a wedding? My feet are really cold. You'd think they keep heating here…." Emmett mentioned. "Forget about this bullshit guys, I have a bitch fit when I'm not comfortable. So Bella, which asshole did this to you? We were really worried. I think I broke Rosalie's nail when she held me back."

"You _nearly_ broke my nail." Rosalie confirmed.

"Whatever," Emmett mumbled loud enough for only me to hear.

"I'm fine guys, the blade didn't cause me enough harm."

"WHAT?! HE STABBED YOU! WHERE?!"

"Emmett calm down! He didn't stab me, it was just a cut on my neck." I tilted my head backwards for them to have a good view.

"I don't see anything there Bella." Rosalie observed.

"Same here." Emmett _**also**_ observed.

"What? He cut me on my throat, I felt it. The blood was leaking from there." Emmett and Rosalie came closer to my throat.

"There's nothing there 'cept from a scratch. Oh! It looks nasty! I think I can inside from here." 3 guesses on who said that.

"Emmett stop trying to scare Bella. It's fine, you would only be able to see it from up close. It's tiny anyway." Rosalie reassured me.

"Thanks guys, you're the only friends I have here at the moment."

"What 'bout everybody else?"

"Alice my best friend went to Paris with her boyfriend Jasper who's also a friend of mine. That's it; family live no where near New York."

"Oh." Rosalie whispered in sympathy.

"No big deal, I have you lot."

* * *

Rosalie and Emmett left at the end of visiting hours. We ended up getting to know ourselves better and Emmett cracked a few corny jokes once in a while. Edward didn't come. _Why would he? He doesn't give a shit about me. _I didn't see James again and I mentally had a party.

I was permitted to leave anytime before the end of the day seeing as I was fine. I was waiting for Carlisle to pay me a visit because there were matters to discuss and there was something he wanted to tell me before the arrival of Rosalie and Emmett. I was curious about what he was going to say. I didn't have to wait long. Hesitantly, he entered the room in small steps. I kept a curious look on him.

"Before I was interrupted, I was going to ask if you wouldn't mind dropping the charges against James. I've known him for years and I believe he's a good person, even if he doesn't show it. Jealousy does that to people."

What?! He wanted me to let the guy who kidnapped and cut me with a blade just walk away?! _But he asked nicely and he's a doctor; there's probably no bad bone in his body._

"Jealously? What have I got that would make him jealous? If he wants my job as a secretary, he can have it just as long as I get good wages and I get treated better than I do now and that's saying something."

"You really don't see yourself clearly do you?"

"I'm a negative person, always have and always will be. You asked me nicely so I would be fine to drop the charges but there are a few conditions; he has to treat me with respect and never go anywhere near me with a dangerous weapon or dangerous and unhealthy thoughts."

"I assure you he'll take up those conditions. Thank you and who knows, he might even permanently change his ways."

"Not likely." I mumbled. "I'll go now; it was a pleasure to meet you Carlisle." I said more audibly. Wait! Did he say he's known James for a long time? He did. "If you don't mind me asking, how do you know James?" I questioned.

"He's a close friend of my nephew. I don't think you would know him." He replied.

"Oh, somehow I though you were familiar. And if you ever come across a man called 'Edward', run because he's an arrogant asshole who is too busy to even visit his secretary." It felt good to let that out of my system. Too bad I had to go to work tomorrow.

Carlisle gave me an odd look but didn't say anything further. He was probably thinking 'Who the hell is she on about?'

Carlisle nodded at me on my way out and I gave a quick wave. Before I knew it, I was in my apartment getting ready to sleep. _What a day today has been……._


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns twilight, not me.

Today was a Thursday. The apartment was empty without Alice and I felt out of place. Today, I decided to act 'innocent' and at the same time angry. I can't believe Edward didn't visit me in the hospital yesterday; I was his secretary!

_Even though I started on Monday three days ago_.

Plus, his friend kidnapped me! I should get some sort of apology right? I might even deserve a 'thank-you' for saving his friend's sorry ass by dropping the charges. I might be thinking to high on the ladder but once in a while, I deserve to be arrogant unlike Edward Masen who is _**always**_ arrogant.

_How come no old woman has hit him on the head with an umbrella? _

I decided to look in Alice's closet for today's outfit.

_She would know if I didn't borrow anything, she always does._

After minutes of 'ooohs' and 'aahs' admiring pretty and most likely expensive clothes, I finally settled on a black velvet top with bare shoulders, a black skirt that reached mid thigh (I'm not trying to be a slut) and black boots which I think are Gucci. Yeah, I went for the 'funeral' look. I surprised myself when I didn't reach for the tights!

I thought I would be cold in the clothes I have approved to wear so I brought along a red Trent coat. Alice would have been proud….

* * *

I arrived at the lounge at the time which was usual to me. I was glad Mike Newton wasn't here; he would have been irritating me more because of the kiss. Even if it was on the cheek, he thought I had feelings for him. Then I realised all of a sudden, the whole lounge was quiet. Just like they were yesterday when Edward chased me.

Some people were scared to return my gaze, others were boldly giving me cold glares but a few who seemed to be friendly gave me looks of concern. No doubt all of the incidents of yesterday got around. I blushed as usual and quicken my pace to the elevator.

"Why is she in a hurry?" I heard a high pitched voice ask.

"Probably eager to meet her lover." Another high pitched voice answered.

"Like it's any of your business," I muttered.

After what seemed a while I got on my floor. Luckily I didn't have to share the elevator with people and I didn't get stopped. This whole building seemed to be full of bitches and bastards. No wonder fake blondes with equally fake boobs work here. Or egotistic, self-centered, stuck-up, vain asses! It's a shocker successful companies reside here!

I decided not to fish around for coffee knowing who already sucked it out so I got to the chase and went to my 'office'. As usual, the same profanities were uttered and sounds of vases shattering came from Edward's office. I tended to ignore it, like usual and get busy with my work; I was behind and I'm sure the office phone was here on the desk two days ago…….

The time was three in the afternoon. I decided I would be leaving in three hours time just to get a bit ahead for tomorrow. Edward didn't come out of his office, not even once. Nothing happened to him; I did his odd demands like not letting anyone in and I confirmed his appointments and gave him his schedule. I was being a good secretary, for the first time here, and he was being an inadequate boss! I and he haven't seen each other the whole day.

I was still waiting for an apology or maybe even a thank-you. Hell, if this still goes on, I would even be satisfied with a nod in my direction. But does he step out of his office to give me the time of the day? Nooooooooooo!

He stays in there, even in lunch break to do whatever in hell he does. At lunch, I thought of his behaviour due to mine yesterday; the seduction. Yes it was out of line but the things he done to me was beyond the line.

I thought of confronting him but I was partly scared, no terrified! What if Edward was like James; rough and sinister. What if he was sidestepping a meeting with me for my own good? James had a blade, what if Edward had a gun? They were friends after all.

I continued to work until six, Edward constantly running in my mind (in a bad way of course). It was time for me to leave but I held back. I was fed up; normally Edward would be hitting on me and pissing me off. I was pissed off but because of the reason I had not seen him the whole day.

I banged the door open. I didn't care if he had a gun. His office was clean and the man I wanted to have a 'pleasant' conversation with was relaxing on his office chair. His eyes were closed and I missed them.

But why was there a bruise? Oh. My. God. He had a black eye! High five to whichever smarty pants did this to him!

Was he avoiding me because he a black eye? He must have seen it as a weakness……

_Why was he still quiet?_

_Was he waiting for me to give up and leave? _

I know Edward though; not his life story or his family but _**him**_. I know him.

This was probably a game to him; he knew I was in the room but was ignoring me. I stood in front of his desk, tapping my foot annoyingly in anticipation.

I was glad with the result; he opened his eyes and stared at me before showing the smirk I knew quite well. Wait….What? He was smirking? What made him on top of the world all of a sudden?

"The plan is in motion. Tomorrow, we will fly to Chicago for the weekend with my family and friends. Think of it as a reunion but the last time we've seen each other was in three of four months." Edward mentioned casually.

Now I was confused. He saw my facial expression and got more comfortable. He carried on, "Remember the tasks? You're my pregnant wife for a month……"

Oh…OH! I forgot about that and the tape! Did he say family? Wouldn't his family know if he was married? Or if his 'wife' was pregnant?

"This is crazy, you're crazy! Wouldn't your family know your 'wife' or that she is pregnant? And there is no way in hell that I am going to Chicago." I said while holding onto the ground. I knew this wouldn't end well.

"Isabella Swan, you _**are**_ going to Chicago with me tomorrow for the whole weekend and you _**will**_ be my pregnant wife and you _**will**_ be nice to my family and friends and show respect, whether you like it or not I _**don't**_ care. Understand?" His tone was dripping with venom and forget the gun; he could easily kill me with his bare two hands! So I had to agree even if this was not what I expected. _He has good memory. Why couldn't he suffer from memory loss?_

"Yes. But how? They're your family." I urged.

"This is how it goes: you pretend to be my pregnant wife but the women are pretending they don't know because I told them but they don't want to ruin the surprise on you giving them the good news. The men have no idea that you're pregnant but you are going to give hints to help the men realize. Got it?"

This was confusing.

"Yes but how did you get the females of your family and friends to go along with this?" I was full of questions. Hopefully there was a mistake in his 'plan' and we didn't have to carry it out.

"They **think** that they **know** that you're pregnant and my wife. No matter how confusing, it works. About the married business, we married each other while we drunk. But don't worry, they won't bring that up. But don't do anything stupid like shout 'I'm pregnant!'. I told them you were going to tell them in a couple of months' time, not now. The women want to out-smart the men and I am willing to help them." I think that was the longest I heard him explain something in one go.

_Wasn't he a man? Why the fuck is he helping the other gender. Not that I'm sexist or anything against this….._

"Okay I understand."

"Pack your clothes and come here with your stuff at the time you normally come. From here we'll go to the airport, don't worry all expenses are paid by me. Close the door on your way out." That was a bit harsh! I was leaving when I remembered James.

"How come I don't get an apology?" I inquired.

"For what?" He asked too calmly if you ask me but I was having none of that.

"For yesterday, you didn't believe me when James kidnapped me! You didn't even visit me in the hospital!" I shrieked.

"Stop, you're causing damage to my ears. First I don't need to apologise because you don't deserve an apology." What?! "You ran out of the office yesterday from inappropriate behaviour and second of all, I was busy yesterday….With James. But thank- you, you saved his skinny ass from grey clothes, he dislikes the colour as much as you, and with that, this weekend is the only time you have to be my 'pregnant' wife. After that, I'll give you another task."

Maybe he is a nice person. Except from the fact that he is still blackmailing me. Maybe he didn't deserve that black eye for whatever reasons. But I was curious, he didn't have one yesterday so it probably happened with James.

"How did you get a black eye?"

Edward looked like a sexy fish with his lips forming an 'o' shape. He didn't have an answer!

"I uh….I fell." He fell? I have fallen more than a hundred people have in a lifetime and I had never done damage to my face!

"On what? Emmett's ass." Sorry that I had to bring that up. Gosh, what goes in his ass?

"Who is Emmett?" Did I detect jealousy?

"A friend of mine." It was the truth but Edward still looked green, not literally of course. But if Edward was really green, that wouldn't mean he was unattractive. Hell no!

"That's what they all say."

"Shut up; he's getting married."

"Awww, is Bella heart-broken? Does it hurt? Do you want nice Edward to mend your fragile heart? Don't worry; he won't bite." 'Nice', yeah right. Such a jerk.

_Was he supposed to scare me? Because it's working._

"Why would it hurt? I'm _**their**_ friend, I'm happy for them and I'm going to the wedding." Why was I telling him this? It's a waste of time.

"You really are his friend. How long have you known him?"

"Since Monday."

"Monday? You're his friend but not mine? That's bulls-"

"Awww, is Edward heart-broken? Does it hurt? Do you want nice Bella to mend your cold heart? Don't worry; I won't bite….that hard." How does it feel to taste a piece of your medicine?

"Shut up." Someone's pissed.

"I'm his friend because he's the complete opposite of you."

"So he's ugly and poor. I knew it, can't get any better friends than that can you Bella?"

"He's good looking and earns decent money if that's what you mean. If you ever see the most beautiful woman you have ever seen, that's his going-to-be wife."

"I'm looking at the most beautiful woman." Where? I turned around and the door was closed, no one was behind me. Who was he talking about? He was looking at me when he said that….Oh no! Was he hitting on me?

"If you're talking about me, then there's something wrong with your eyesight."

"I am talking about you and there's nothing wrong with my eyesight; it's perfectly fine. If I said you also had a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?"

"I'll see you tomorrow, don't act like this or I might have to discipline you in front of your family."

"My family is not like that; they only do twosomes." I meant slapping! Not sex! Typical Edward Masen nature. I rolled my eyes and left.

* * *

I arrived at work at my usual time with two suitcases and a carry on bag. Unlike yesterday, nobody took notice of me. _Yay! I'm invisible again._

I arrived at my office with a strange man sitting on my desk. He was wearing jeans, a Ralph Lauren Polo shirt and Nike trainers. Who was this man? And what was he doing here?

"Excuse me, are you lost?" I asked the strange man.

"Do I look different to you Bella?" .God. Why was Edward Masen in jeans? Why was he wearing casual clothes?

"N-n-no. Let's go."

* * *

I can't believe I'm in first class! Yeah, I'll build a bridge and get over it. Being a lawyer must have money advantages. I couldn't sleep and I didn't let Edward sleep. Every time he shut his eyes, I asked a question. It was only a two hour flight from New York to Chicago anyway.

"What are your family like?" I asked randomly.

"You'll see when we get there."

"Are they picking us up or are we getting a cab?"

"James is picking us up." What?! Blondie's there? Why? Of all the places he could go to, he goes to Chicago. Just my luck. Hold the phone…If James is here and he's a friend, wouldn't Aro be here? Oh no!

"Is Aro going to be there?"

"No! He's business. Now let me go to sleep." Phew!

"How am I supposed to be pregnant? Do I hide a pillow under my t-shirt? Do I vomit?"

"No, no, no! Just forget the technical stuff!" Someone gets cranky from lack of sleep.

"James is going to play nice right? Does he know about the task?"

"On the way back, you are sitting far away from me!"

"That's cold," I muttered.

* * *

We arrived in Chicago, got our luggage and reunited with our long lost buddy James. He wish! I was very surprised to see another BMW. But this time it was red.

"It's Victoria's; my wife. She let me borrow it after what you did to mine." James spoke coldly.

"Hi James. How's the family jewels?" I asked cheekily.

"Bitch." James muttered. We entered the car, James driving with Edward in the passenger's seat while I was at the back. Why did this bring back bad memories?

"So Bella, how do you like your souvenir?" He was referring to the cut on my neck.

"Not much." Was my reply.

"You ruined my car."

"You kidnapped, threatened and cut me with a blade!"

"You poked my eye!"

"No wonder they were red."

"SHUT UP!" Edward roared. I must have really not let him sleep in the plane.

The car ride was smooth. After every bump and corner, I felt like I was gliding. Except I was in a car. It wasn't long before my eyes shut down completely and I was sleeping.

I awoke at the sound of elephants. "Elephants! We're under attack!" I alerted. I looked at my surroundings, I was still in the car and there were no elephants around me. Good. Edward and James were hysterically laughing. That was bad…Very bad.

My heart beat slowed down to its normal pace and I kept my head up. What was so funny?

"You should have seen your face! James, that was priceless. Honking really got her attention."

"Honk if you're horny!"

"You're both acting like hormonal teenagers."

"Is Sleeping Beauty's slave finally awake?" Oh no he did not just call me that!

"Better at sex than anyone, now all he needs is a partner. Who? I know: Edward!" My brilliant comeback!

"Do you know you talk in your sleep?" James asked trying to play it cool. Like I said, _**trying**_ to play it cool.

"Yeah, nothing embarrassing today fellas. Better luck next time." Both were true, I talk in my sleep but it wasn't anything embarrassing. All I dreamed of was well my childhood and not long ago, I had nightmares of Jake but that went away.

It was quiet after that. We seemed to be going through trees after trees after trees. Where were we?

Edward saw the confusion on my face, "The house is in the middle of the forest. Don't worry it's safe; we have electric fences so nothing dangerous can get in. The house is new, don't forget to compliment it."

So this is what my life has reduced to.

We arrived at a beautiful four storey house- would this even be called a house? 'Mansion' is a better way to describe it. Holy shit! Was his family made of money? It seemed like it. The garage for the cars was bigger than my apartment! There were so many cars, many BMWs and a Mercedes. The front door was massive! Before I could ring the bell, a beautiful woman with caramel hair opened the door. She must have seen us coming. She hugged all of us in a tight group hug. Wasn't this awkward? I'm hugging my boss, a creep who kidnapped me and a welcoming but unfamiliar woman. What world am I in?

"You must be Bella! Hi, I'm Esme and welcome to our home." Her voice was even beautiful. She ushered us in. The outside was beautiful but it was nothing compared to the inside! Mahogany wooden floors, bright and attractive coloured walls, photo frames….The list would go on.

"This house has been beautifully decorated."

"Thanks Bella, I decorated it." Wow, she was talented.

We went to what seemed like the sitting room, there were five people comfortably sitting on the designer sofas. They all looked up. I gasped when I saw a familiar face. Carlisle. What was he doing here?

"_He's a close friend of my nephew. I don't think you would know him."_

Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. I'm in deep shit. Edward was Carlisle's nephew. No wonder he looked at me strangely when I mentioned Edward two days ago. Does he recognise me? Why do all the bad stuff happen to me?

Everyone was staring at me. Did Carlisle tell them the story of me in the hospital? I felt the familiar blush rise in my cheeks. It wasn't until Esme gently pushed me down on a sofa next to Edward that I realised I was the only one standing while everyone else was sitting, including Edward. Traitor. I was also staring at Carlisle.

_Great, they probably think I'm a mental patient or that I have a crush on Carlisle. _

I snapped out of my world when Esme started introducing people.

"This is Victoria, James' wife you know him." She said pointing to an attractive redhead with grey eyes. She smiled where as I waved. She seemed nice, was it just the men? "This is Laurent." A nod in my direction. "Elizabeth, Edward's mother." She smiled warmly and her green eyes were twinkling with amusement. What gives? "This is Edward Senior, obviously Edward's father." Another nod in my direction. He had the same cheek bones as Edward. "Finally, my husband Carlisle." The person I was dreading the most.

"Esme dear, we've met before." Brave, the first man to speak. "In the hospital, she was the one James went after." Looks of pity were aimed at me. I suddenly felt uncomfortable. I hated being the centre of attention.

"Thank-you for pardoning him." Victoria spoke. Is she in the wrong era or something?

"Bella, should I run now?" Oh crap, he remembers me giving him advice. I just gave him a weak smile and he chuckled.

To get my mind out of the past, was the whole family supposed to be good looking? Or were they just lucky? Gosh!

"So tell us something about yourself Bella. Where did you grow up?" Great, a trip down memory lane.

"I grew up in Arizona but when I was sixteen, I moved back to this town in Washington to live with my dad."

"Washington? Where from? A few years ago, we lived there."

"Forks."

"Are you Isabella Swan? Chief of Police, Charlie Swan's daughter?"

"Yes, h-how did y-you know him and me?"

"Bella, we lived there for a couple of years. You were quite the talk of the town."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you remember the bra incident?" Oh no. The bra incident was one of the reasons why I don't go back to Forks. I think I've mentioned this before.

"What happens?" Stupid Edward! He's too nosy.

"I'm not sure Bella would like me to tell, it was embarrassing after all." God bless Esme.

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind. A good story will keep us track." Curse Edward!

"Well," she hesitated before catching everyone's attention, "A bra was found in the Laundrettes and no one knew who it belonged to. The whole of Forks were on the search for the owner. They went to homes, schools, hospitals. Everywhere they searched. They gave up and gave it to the police department."

Carlisle continued, "Oh yes, I remember that. The police department rushed Charlie- Bella's dad and Chief of Police to the hospital thinking he would have a heart attack after he read Bella's name on the label!"

Embarrassing much? I implanted a fake smile on my face. Everyone else roared in laughter while I managed to get a snort out.

"Now leave the poor girl alone. Bella, when would you like a shower?" Elizabeth asked. They must be talking about the baby shower, only the females knew. Thank god I hadn't forgotten this time.

"Don't worry, my friends are planning it. In five or six months, I'll have it. You're invited of course." Edward muffled a laugh. What did he find so funny? Why were everybody else shocked?

"Oh so you have a bath?" Laurent asked and everybody was waiting for an answer. Bath? I've never heard of a baby bath.

"If I wouldn't have a shower, why would I have a bath?" I asked.

They looked disgusted. What did I say wrong?

"What about the men?" James said with a smirk but he would obviously get bored in a baby shower.

"If they don't interrupt us, they can watch but it's out the door if I hear a sound." I said firmly. Why was everybody looking more appalled? Edward looked like in pain trying to stop the giggles. How man like.

Edward finally caught himself and whispered in my ear, "They're asking about refreshing yourself, you know with water." Crap!

What have I done? I actually hinted that I was a lesbian! I invited them to a shower! I gave them an impression that I wouldn't have a shower in five or six months. _Great going Bella. _Set it right.

"Why do you look shocked? I was talking about um a flower shower."

"Flower shower?" They didn't believe me and neither did I.

"You know, after all I was born in the eighties."

"Then don't you mean flower power?"

"Whoops! My bad!" It was my bad after all.

"Never mind, Edward will show you your room. He sleeps a few rooms from you if ever need him." Now I was properly confused. Didn't they think I was married to him?

"Separate? Are you and Carlisle sharing a room?" That sounded wrong and rude but either I was insane or it was the men in the family.

"Of course, we're married." What the fuck?! Edward had been playing me!

"Sorry, I was under a misunderstanding. Can you please excuse us, I want to talk to Edward." I said through clenched teeth.

They gave permission and I followed Edward up the stairs and into a room. It must have been mine because my luggage was there. I was pissed but upstairs was beautiful. Just like downstairs.

Edward made himself comfortable on the bed. He and I were both waiting for it to come out.

"What the fuck?! How could you play me?! You're a jerk. No you're more than that. You're an asshole, a bastard, a cunt, a butt-fucker, you're a piece of dog-shit! A jack-ass whose part time job is to be a mother fucker! Numb nuts! Pervert. Prick! I'm not going to call you a son of a bitch now but wait when we get back."

I knew I was being a drama queen but he got what he deserved. I didn't care if I got fired, at least I would be away from him even if the money was good. It was also a good time to let off more steam.

"What's your problem? Your family's nice except from James, he's creepy but other than that, they're a good loving family. How did _**you**_ end up with _**them**_?"

The asshole! He had the decency to still smirk. Wouldn't a normal person be hurt?

"Bella, you know this is a new house.."

"Yeah, so what?" I was getting to my maximum level of fury.

"They haven't done more to the house.."

"Get to the point."

"This house is badly soundproof," did he want me to fall for that? He knew I didn't believe him. "Why else is it quiet? Can you hear anything?"

It was true; no noise. Maybe this house was soundproof and he wanted me to believe the opposite to get embarrassed.

"They heard everything you said to me."

"I don't believe you." I whispered. Wait, why was I getting weak?

"Try it." So I did.

"The upstairs is beautiful Esme." I whispered.

"Thank-you Bella," said a familiar voice…from downstairs.

I blushed hard. They heard the entire contents of the conversation but didn't say anything.

I was in deeper shit than before. How long before they kick me out?

Edward saw the looks on my face; pure rage and utter embarrassment. He laughed but this time it was of victory.

That was when I lunged for his throat.

**A/N: I hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter because I don't know how long it'll take to update the next chapter. **


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns twilight, not me. So sorry it took long to update. I hope I made it up for you guys! Enjoy!**

I must have been incredibly predictable. Then why else would Edward block my move to strangle him and manage to jump on me on the bed? (I tripped if you're wondering how I managed to get on the bed first.) He was crushing my body against his, my heat and his combined. I felt at peace; my body, my soul, my heart. Edward's masculine scent was making me insane; my heart never danced like this, even when I got kidnapped by James.

No matter how right it felt......this was wrong.

I struggled to get free but damn! He was strong and heavy. I tilted my head to get a better view of his face. Shocker; his black eye was gone! Either he heals inhumanely quickly or makeup has proven its worth to him. All thoughts were gone and I _nearly _stopped struggling when my eyes- a plain boring brown colour- met Edward's...._Were his eyes always this green?_

They were deep and rich in colour. If I ever had children, I wish they would have pretty eyes like Edward's. But I'm not implying Edward's going to be the father of my children- that would be just plain weird and not to mention he's my boss and an asshole.

An electrical zap shook me; Edward's cheek was soothingly brushing mine. Like in the car, I felt like I was gliding except this time, my soul (if that is the best word) was floating towards heaven. I would happily go shopping with Alice for a year if I was in this position once in a year.

My floating abruptly came to a stop when I felt a poke on my stomach. Was that what I thought it was?

How can he have a flipping boner at this time?!

I was suddenly uncomfortable. Wow! I could tell he was big....and thick. No Bella! Stop thinking about his thing, every male has got one and thinking about Edward's is the same as thinking about everybody else's. Plus, if you think more about this, you will be thinking of Charlie. I am now....Eww! By the way, I'm no pervert because I find this very disgusting, no repulsive! And I'm not enjoying it!

Thinking more about Charlie made me pull my 'soul' back into my body and I was in the right state of my mind.

"Let go of me!" I shrieked. How come no-one was coming to my rescue? Wasn't this house not sound-proof? Why does all the bad stuff happen to me?

"Silly Bella, I'm not holding you." I ignored the ever so sweet new nickname for me.

"You're on top of me. Get lost." I was harsh and got straight to the point.

"I won't; this is my house and I can do whatever I want to." The truth was he sounded like a spoilt rich kid with greasy hair and a tux as a casual outfit. I was half right anyway.

Back to the present, I was enraged that he declined to piss off! He was on top of me, with a boner and I could feel nearly every inch of it! Pleasurable being in this position and much, much more than satisfying, but this was my boss! My boss! He was an asshole! A son of a b-

Wasn't this sexual harassment? He was touching me without my approval. If anyone saw this, they would think we were lovers caught up in a 'passionate moment'. But this was a two way street. I flashed Edward a look of triumph but also one of defeat. My look was caught on and I swear I saw some emotion in his eyes. Probably fear. Good luck mate.

I went in for the kill; I wrapped my arms around Edward's torso. I could feel his abs…..No Bella! Concentrate on the task! I clearly saw confusion on his face and I carried on. My head was now facing the door, which was wide open and it only took one look in…..

I got a better view and widened my eyes purposely. Edward, the beast from hell, got a first class view of my neck. I heard him inhale it and in the corner of my eye, to my horror, he was also going for the kill. His mouth was open and slowly, his teeth were getting closer to my skin.

But before his perfectly sparkling white teeth hit the target I wailed, "He's going to rape me! Help! Help!" Edward was frozen in shock; footsteps were heard rushing up the stairs.

To get into character, I thrashed around violently. I've always been a drama queen. Edward, who was still on top of me, was shaking. But not in fear, even though he had no reason to be scared but in fury and my god, he was livid. This was the second time I had done something like this.

I heard a familiar panicked voice shout my name. Familiar but I couldn't put my finger on it. My blood ran cold. Near the door, was the one person who I thought I would never see again in my life: Jacob Black. He sprinted to the bed and forcefully tackled Edward off me. He struggled at first but succeeded.

Jacob was concerned, to me but angry towards Edward. But I had Edward's full attention. His eyes were many shades darker and wouldn't be classified as green anymore, if that was possible. He didn't fight back, his body was being dragged away far from me but still in the room.

My body was numb, lifeless. Two reasons: one, Jacob was here and two, Edward literally looked ready to kill….me. James had nothing on Edward. I could see Edward plotting revenge in his eyes. I wasn't safe.

I failed to register other presences in the room. Victoria, Esme, Elizabeth and a stunning strawberry blonde who wasn't in Edward's pictures were trying to snap me out of 'shock'. I suddenly felt safe; women were just as strong as men and which idiot would degrade himself in front of family? Edward wouldn't try anything.

I ignored their cries of 'Are you okay?' or 'Edward is really messed up'. My aim was to continue acting as a helpless girl who was about to get raped. I was determined to continue, and nothing would be able to stop me.

Marching my way to the corner of the room Edward was in, I gave him a long cold stare. He gave one back but his was multiplied by real emotions. Jacob was getting weaker holding him and honestly, I didn't care anymore that Jacob was near to being my high school sweetheart who broke my heart. As long as he didn't talk to me, I would be fine. I also didn't care he was my ex when I locked my orbs with Edward's.

He was still fuming, his body and eyes were telling me so. He had a reason to be, I turned his family against him. They now think he's a rape artist who forces himself on a girl in the same house his family is in!

_I would tell them the truth sooner or later._

We were dealing with a personal conflict, between Edward and I. Jacob still had a hold of Edward but not for long and I sensed the ladies were near the bed cautiously looking. Edward didn't look away and neither did I. He was expecting something and so I gave it to him. My hand crashed on Edward's cheek (and a little bit of his nose). Echoes of a thundering sound were heard in the room, and no doubt the whole house.

I was wrong though, I under or rather overestimated Edward's potential. In slow motion, Edward overpowered Jacob who crashed against the wall. In one swift motion, Edward pounced on me knocking the wind out of me while I collapsed on the carpet. Before anyone could react, Edward bit down on my neck. Hard.

I felt pain, from Edward's bite and the cut James gave me which hadn't fully healed yet. I screamed in agony….and in bliss. Edward thought of it more as a moan and began sucking and biting every part of my neck. It felt like an ice lolly nudging my neck on a boiling day.

_Edward Cullen is a creep._

He became harder; I thought he wanted to break my skin and drink my blood. _He's not a vampire!_ I heard screams for the first time and was surprised when I heard few coming from me.

Suddenly Edward was pulled away from me by Carlisle, Edward's dad, Laurent, Jacob and James. They didn't have complete control of him but were managing. I heard Edward growl a low, menacing sound. Is he even human?

Before he was forced out of the room I heard James mutter to Edward, "Man! You need one cold shower." Edward's dad and Laurent laughed along with James while Carlisle and Jacob kept silent.

Gently, I was lifter into the air and fell on something silky and soft. I was on the bed. Apologies and warnings of Edward were thrown at me. They checked my neck and apparently, Edward gave me love bites. 'Love' was the wrong word if you catch my drift.

My neck was tingling from where Edward had attacked ma and felt shivers up and down my spine. The moment was gone but I still felt things that I had never experienced with Jacob, the only man I've been with.

I had been informed by Esme that a party was going to be held tonight and I had to get ready. Plus, I got warned by Victoria to steer clear from Edward; he might want to jump me again. The strawberry blonde was Tanya Denali, Edward's childhood friend. I'm sure he gave her a good impression of him. I was shocked of the fact that Tanya had a beautiful personality. From what I observed, everybody including me liked Tanya except for Victoria. But I ignored her hostile behaviour towards Tanya; cat-fights aren't rare.

They showered me with clothes and food as a sorry for Edward's behaviour like it was their fault! Alice would have appreciated this 'peace offering' but I found it hard to take it all in.

For hours they dolled me up. The final result was that I was wearing a dark blue evening gown that reached my ankles and showed a fair bit of cleavage. When Esme mentioned party, I thought they meant paartay! Not a social event. Also they gave me four inch heels! I can barely walk in flats. How was I supposed to even stand in those death traps?!

Negative thoughts flew out of the window when I saw myself in the mirror. Holy shit! I looked….nice. My hair for once looked silky not (slightly) greasy when the bottom layer was done in elegant curls. Random hair strands were smooth and straight whilst the other strands were wavy. My 'fringe' was sorted so now it was swept to the left side of my face. I had blue eye shadow which matched my dress and my eyelashes were coated by thick, brown mascara which suited my hair. Cheery flavored lip gloss was smoothened out on my lips and I had a weird urge to kiss someone, mark them. Stupid, I know!

Tanya got ready the same time as me but looked….Her beauty rivals Rosalie's that was for sure. I couldn't bring Tanya as my plus one even if I knew her! But Rosalie would be the most gorgeous bride in existence, I was positive of that.

Soon after that, everybody was ready to 'arrive' at the party. As soon as I got down, my mouth dropped. The interior was more beautiful. The different colours of the walls contrasted with the lights and everybody here was breath taking, they lightened up the room.

_I was the exception. _

I only knew the hosts of the party and Tanya and Jacob. Hold the horses, what was Jacob doing here? I entered the kitchen (I got pretty acquainted with the house) to escape the very loud but still melodious music which I hadn't mentioned before.

I was glad to see Tanya alone by the drinks' table. I approached her and gave her a warm smile. She offered me some sort of cocktail but I refused and filled my glass with coke. I didn't want to get drunk and create uproar- alcohol does weird things to me if I drink a lot and I wasn't planning to do a little, let alone a huge quantity.

"What's your opinion of Edward?" She asked me. What would I say? He's a bastard? He's nice? My mouth turned dry when I realized not only was Tanya waiting for an answer but also nearly the whole of Edward's family. Carlisle and James were on our left, obviously interested in our conversation. Elizabeth, Esme and Victoria were slightly leaning in whilst filling their cups.

_Weren't they supposed to be the hosts of this party?! What were they doing here?!_

I didn't know how to reply. If I told her the truth, she would hate me because Edward's considered to be part of her family but if I lied, Edward's family would think of me as a dishonest person. Their opinions mattered to me, not James though. Their first impressions of me weren't flattering and I didn't want to make a second terrible one. Tanya tapped her foot impatiently telling me to hurry up answering.

"He's a……" Bastard? No. Nice? No. Asshole? No. Good friend of mine? No. Self centered prick? No. "Man. He's a man." A heavy weight was lifted off my shoulders when everybody else was bored of the conversation or lack of so they left. Tanya just gave me an incredulous look.

To change things around I asked, "What's yours?"

Her posture relaxed and with a dreamy look on her face she answered, "I simply love him."

My mouth was hanging open. I've never met someone who can be so…..blunt about their feelings. Not even Alice!

"He doesn't love me though." I suddenly felt sympathy for Tanya. She was a great girl but does Edward realize that? Nooo! Then I had a bright idea.

I whispered in her ear a tactic which she eagerly approved of. Edward Masen will realize his love for Tanya, he just had to. Tanya told me they had been friends since they were born and even bathed together once when they were five! They had history.

Tanya left the kitchen for the sitting room which was packed with people. She was in position, in a corner and I was sitting on a sofa, my gaze on Tanya. She slowly got closer to a tall and burly body. The back of his body was facing Tanya and I. She tapped the shoulder twice for him to turn around. He did but before I could see the communication going on, the bottom of the sofa shifted and Edward got comfortable beside me.

To be honest, I wasn't terrified of him being this close to me. I wasn't scared of his creepy behaviour from earlier on. The worse was done and I'm sure his family didn't punish him for his actions. They didn't seem capable of doing that, well except from James who reminds me of a psychopath.

Edward's eyes weren't dark anymore but his natural eye colour. "I'm sorry, I didn't intend to behave like that. It was inappropriate and I don't know what got over me. I hope I didn't hurt you that badly." Was Edward apologizing? Well this was a first.

Who knew if this would ever happen again so I had to use this opportunity as an advantage.

"I don't know about that; my neck is burning and you knocked me to the ground. I can't feel my back and I don't know if my mind is balanced; I got attacked by my boss!"

Edward narrowed his eyes at me. Uh oh, I was busted. "You can drop the act."

"I forgive you," was my innocent reply. Edward just snorted.

I didn't forget about Tanya and our plan.

"So…..Tanya seems to be getting comfortable with Jacob." Edward's eyes shifted to where Tanya and Jacob were and I followed.

"Yes. Wait, how do you know Jacob Black?" I didn't answer. I let my mind wander into another territory. How come Edward showed no signs of jealousy? Tanya was beautiful and right now, craving for his attention. And what was Jacob doing here?

"What's Jacob doing here?" I asked. I secretly hoped Jacob wasn't going to be a bother to me. He certainly knew how to dig up old graves.

"Family friend." Was everyone here a freaking 'family friend'! "My dad's a lawyer too, Jacob's a client of his who got sued for something I'm not too entirely sure of. But the car parts were illegal and my dad managed to flip the situation. Jacob won and ever since, he fixed everybody's cars including my precious Volvo. He has got talent I'm telling you; some ass thought it would have been hilarious to scratch my car with cheap motel keys. I swear, if it wasn't for Jacob, that bum would have been strapped to a billboard in the middle of the city naked."

Huh. So Jacob managed to work with cars. That was his dream job and he achieved it.

"Answer my question; I answered yours. How do you know Jacob?" I knew Edward wouldn't let go until I told him. He could be persuasive if he tried and he managed to get my secrets out when he was dead.

"We used to be……..together. As in dating. He was the one I was talking about when you dropped dead on me."

Recognition sparked in his eyes. "Was the sex good?" His voice was in pain. Did he really ask me that?

"I can't really comment; he's the only one I did it with and only once we did it. It didn't last long and well, it wasn't what I expected." You must be asking why I was spilling something which should be confidential to my boss- who I immensely dislike. I have no reply.

I heard Edward mumble something but I couldn't quite catch it. It sounded like a 'good' but he could have said 'food'. I decided to change the subject back to Tanya. Right now, she seemed to be in a heated discussion with my ex.

"Tanya's beautiful," I managed to casually 'blurt' out.

"It seems like you're in love with her. I never knew you swinged both ways." _She is in love with you and I don't love her._

"I'm straight and she seems to be perfect….for you."

"Tanya? Not my type. I'm in love with someone else, someone more 'beautiful' as you simply put it." What?

"What about Tanya? She's in love with you!"

Edward let out a chuckle. "Tanya is not in love with me, she's in love with James. Has always been since he moved to Chicago from F-"

"You're joking."

"I'm telling the truth. Haven't you noticed Victoria glaring cold daggers at her?"

"She told me she loved you," I stated.

"Tanya loves me but she's IN love with James. I've known Tanya since I was born, she pins for James. She's just trying to forget him and meet someone else. She wants to be friends with Victoria but won't admit it. Victoria feels the same."

"Oh. Who's the 'lucky' girl?" She must be special and beautiful if she caught Edward's eyes.

"I'm not telling you."

"I bet this is one of your pranks; I'm not falling for them anymore."

"This isn't a prank; I'm really in love, with an angel. She makes my heart flutter like a butterfly's wings, she makes my palms sweat and she's the sole purpose I'm still living- not literally of course. I'd kill for her and I'd throw myself in the hands of death if that would save her." Who knew the flirt was a romantic? 'The flirt'- that's a good nickname; I like it.

"Wow, she has got you hooked. Does she know how you feel about her?"

"No," I heard him say with a dejected look on his face.

"Hey, I know. If you give me that tape back, I'll make her fall in love with you."

"She loves me, she's just oblivious to the fact and the day you like me, will be the day I'll give you the tape back. I guess you have to complete the nine tasks left."

"I like you!"

"Really? Then would you mind repeating what you told me in the afternoon? Maybe _pervert _or_ prick _will refresh your memory."

"Would you give me the tape back if I said that they both start with the letter 'p'?"

"No."

"Can't blame a girl for trying," I said with a sheepish grin. "Hey, if you don't mind me asking since we've been revealing….stuff, what do you do in the office in the morning?"

"I work."

"I mean, what's with the vases and the swearing…"

"You wouldn't understand, I have this problem-"

"Ah ha! I always knew there was something wrong with you."

"Ha ha ha. Hilarious. Now do you want an explanation or do you want me to call James here?" Anything but Blondie! I nodded my head in agreement.

"I suffer from insomnia. Yes; it's been longer than a while and no; I haven't had a good night's sleep in ages. I continue with the lunacy because it helps me get tired and eventually I fall asleep. Not for long though; one or two hours the most. I do my 'therapy' longer now because she's been haunting my dreams. You have no idea what it's like to have someone that special to you- that one person to appear in your dreams and make it come true. Even if it's surreal. When I wake up still weary from the deficit amount of sleep, I reminisce the dreams and the way she fits perfectly with me like a completed jigsaw puzzle."

"You have it bad. Oh and how did you know what I was going to ask? I thought I was difficult for you to read."

"You _**are **_difficult for me to read but each time I tell someone this, the same questions pop up. Ja-" I started laughing hysterically. I don't have an awful memory but I don't have a good one either. It takes different things for me to recollect something, for instance music that I haven't heard in years (Michael Jackson's _Thriller _reminds me of the time when Alice dragged me to a shopping spree at four o'clock in the morning and wrestled the security guards because she was scaring the other customers with her delighted and shocked screams). Words do the same and just one word from Edward triggered a memory from when Emmett gave me advice on how to show who's boss (not literally of course). Speaking of Alice, I had to phone her to see what was going on in Paris. Jasper surely should have proposed by now; if he didn't, Alice would have done it for him.

I managed to collect myself when a tense Edward grabbed my hand. I was about to protest and slap him (again) and ignore the sparks I was getting from our petty (but romantic in a way) touching but the shadow stopped me from doing so. _Jacob._

"Hello Bella, you are welcome; I saved you from the clutches of the evil vampire!" It was a joke and it was obviously from Jacob but I didn't laugh. Or smile. Neither did Edward.

"I would have shown my gratitude but you're Jacob, so I can't do that now can I?" My tone was bitter and Jacob groaned. We were all in a position of discomfort, especially Edward who had no reason to be like this.

"Bella, I'm sorry. I'm sorry okay! I loved you but when I saw Leah Clearwater in nothing but black, leather boots….I felt something in me snap, like….I don't know. But I'll make it up to you, I'm going to a wedding on Sunday, next week and you could come along. It's in New York though but I'd pay for all expenses. I'll even buy you a dress! And heels! I'll even let you choose the airplane and I'll let you-"

"Did you say the wedding was in New York? On a Sunday next week? Who's getting married? Is she a blonde? Is the guy goofy?"

"Yes to all the questions and I'm attending Emmett McCartney's and Rosalie Hale's wedding. Why?"

"I'm been invited too."

"What?! How do you know them?"

"They're my friends. How 'bout you?"

"Rosalie Hale used to work for me before she became a model. We could still go together right?"

"No, I'm afraid not."

"You're going to the wedding aren't you?" I nodded my head in agreement. "Then what's the problem?"

I wanted to scream out 'You!' and create a scene but I would only do that if I was drunk, and right now I was pretty much sober. So instead, I replied, "I don't think that would work out. I'll see you at the wedding Jacob; I think you should go back to Tanya."

He left and I let out a long sigh. I was not looking forward to see Jacob on Sunday and I needed desperately accompany on that day. Male precisely. Who could I ask?

"Exes- a pain in the ass."

"Has there ever been a special person before 'her'?"

"No, I never dated before. Too busy studying and waiting to qualify as a lawyer. But I had my fair share of nights."

"You're a pig."

"Good to see my secretary thinks highly of me."

"Oh I do. I just can't wait for you to step into the light."

"Cute. So, you're going to a wedding on next week Sunday. Then I have two tasks for you: 1) I'm having a party on Saturday next week in my apartment. You're going to be there and help with decorations and stuff. You will be expected to leave anytime after the party finishes. 2) I will go to your friends' wedding with you. I'll pick you up and then we'll be the perfect date. Do you comprehend?"

"Yes."

"Excellent."

There was a silence between the two of us. We discussed everything we needed to say but I felt we were missing things. A huge amount of things. It didn't help that the electricity between us was getting more prominent; our hands were still connected and Edward knew. We both knew but we kept still.

My hands fitted perfectly within his. His hand was big with prolonged, pale fingers. He had piano hands. I recalled seeing a piano in his room and I thought this would be a good distraction for both of us.

"You play the piano," it was an assumption.

"Yes, I'm glad you noticed that a few days ago. I might play for you one day."

"I would like that. So who is she?" I asked, carefully releasing my hands from his grip.

"Still not saying anything."

"Come on. You're not going to give me a clue?" He was adamant on this topic and so was I. It's a good thing I know Alice who I still had to phone. I pouted at Edward, my mouth trembled and I thought of Charlie, in Forks alone. My eyes watered and I looked from under my eyelashes. Edward sighed in defeat.

"I'll give you a clue," he said, "You don't know her." What kind of a clue was that?! He saw my confusion and explained, "When you see her, you'll know."

"That won't be hard, just look out for a beauty. Hey Edward, do you have a phone?"

"Yeah." He passed me his phone, a Sony Ericsson (I knew from the logo) and I got up to the kitchen. No-one was in there. My back was to the door and I was looking out of the window. I dialed the hotel's number (Alice sent it to me) and asked for Alice Brandon. I heard Alice on the phone sounding as high as ever- in a good way but there was a tone which made me upset. Was Alice crying? It sounded like that.

"Oh Bella, I'm glad you called. Jasper hasn't proposed yet! This whole trip so far has been a disaster. It was going so well in the beginning but when we got to the hotel, things got awkward. And you wouldn't believe it! Jasper booked a suite but with two rooms! The real reason he came to Paris was to visit his cousin and he brought me along so I wouldn't feel left out. I feel left out alright! Jasper's surrounded with six-foot blonde bombshells with sexy FRENCH ACCENTS! While I've been stuck in my hotel room the whole day puking my guts out because I ate something bad! I should have gone to the hotel's restaurant with Jasper but what do I do? Eat something strange. I didn't even know what the hell it was! Bella you have to help me! Jasper's coming; I can hear him. Pretend to be a guy. Make Jasper jealous. Help me please! I'll be forever in your deb-"

"Alice who are you talking to?" I heard in the background.

"A friend of Bella's. _**He's**_ just so charming; don't you want to talk to _**him**_?" Couldn't you be more obvious Alice? I heard shuffling on the other side and wasn't surprised when Jasper's deep voice came into hearing range.

"Who is this?" Jasper was jealous, I was positive of that.

"This is…." What name could I choose? What name begins with A? Aaron began with 'a'. That was a nice name too. I replied in a deep voice, "The name's Aaron. I'm Bella's friend from work. Who are you?"

"Jasper."

"Oh, so you're Jasper."

"Yes, Alice must have mentioned me." I heard smugness in his voice. Were all guys like this towards each other?

"Alice? That sweet thing. No. Bella told me. Anyway, don't you think Alice is hot? Bella showed me a picture of her. I know milk does a body good, but DAMN! How much has she been drinking?"

"Now you listen here. Alice is my girlfriend and I love her and she loves me. We've had sex slash made love three hundred and sixty two times. So there!"

"You are sad."

"At least I have Alice. Now give me the phone to Bella." Crap! If Jasper talked to _**me, **_he would know something was up.

"For what reason?"

"I need to talk to her." I was definitely going to get an earful from Jasper, no doubt.

"You can't! I mean, she's upstairs busy. We're in a party you see and she's occupied." Maybe that would stop him.

"Doing what?" Curious as a cat.

"Having sex with the boss?" I asked meekly but Jasper thought of it as in embarrassment.

"I don't care, give it to her." This will not end fine.

"Fine." I had to fake it. I opened and closed the windows numerously to make it sound like I was going up the stairs. 'Climbing' the 'stairs' were finished but I left the window open, there was a slight breeze and I didn't realize I was boiling until now.

I knocked on the counter, faking knocking on the door. I opened the drawer slightly so it would sound like a door opening. This was the worse part. I hold the phone close to my mouth but another hand was on my mouth so I would so muffled. I faked screams and pants. I also faked Edward's voice shouting my name. This was disturbing.

I closed the drawer or the 'door' if you prefer. I went back to the Aaron character and said smugly, "She's occupied like I told you. I don't want to disturb her."

Jasper definitely believed this shit. "Oh okay. I'm hanging up now."

"Wait! Where's Alice?" I decided to carrying on playing.

"She's uh…asleep." Did Jasper sound nervous?

"What is she wearing? Nothing I hope." There was a click. He hung up on me. I guess Alice owned me one. I ended the phone call and turned around. My cheeks were on fire. Edward's entire family was there and Jacob and Tanya. Their mouths were hanging open and eyes were bulging out of their sockets. I was mortified. They might have heard everything. From me pretending to be a man, to me flirting and the worse, faking sex.

But things got worse when I heard Edward say in a strangled voice, "Laurent, get the rifle."


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns twilight, not me.

My blood ran cold. Were they going to kill me? I expected a reaction similar to that from James but Edward? Hell no! Laurent dashed to get the rifle and I secretly hoped he tripped or fell or 'pulled a Bella'. Edward's eyes contained fear and Carlisle looked worried. Esme and Elizabeth were crying, bless them. Everybody else looked shocked, even James.

I wasn't scared of death after the numerous times I had fatal accidents but I was too young! I haven't achieved anything special to make my family proud. I haven't found the man of my dreams (if he is real that is). I was only twenty one and experienced sex once!

I decided I wasn't going to die without a bang! "You can't kill me; that's murder! I didn't mean it anyway. My best friend told me to get her boyfriend jealous, how was I supposed to know things would turn out like this?! I was just being a good best friend. You would do the same! This is Edward's fault, not mine. I think we should shoot him no matter how low that sounds," I was rambling on and on. The truth was I didn't know what I was saying, it just poured out.

"Edward made me come here!" I was shrieking from then on. "Did you know he bla-"

I stopped. I paused in the middle of the sentence. Not because I realized I was probably making the situation worser or that there would be a severe penalty in the future. I stopped because of a low growl…from behind me. First I thought the sound was coming from Edward because of the events from earlier on. But I was sadly wrong; he was in front of the door with his family. In the same place as I last saw him.

I turned around. My eyes bulged out of my sockets. My heart hammered in my chest. By seeing that, I didn't think the rifle was for me. By seeing that, I knew the rifle was for the six foot grizzly bear which might I add, looked furious. Did I also mention it was standing right by the window? Gulp, it was standing right in front of me on its hind legs.

Don't get me wrong, I was an animal lover. I was against fur and poachers. But when a murderous animal is face to face with you and ready to claw you, I'm pretty sure there won't be any bonding. Emotionally I mean. There would be plenty physical actions if you're curious.

Like me screaming and wailing my arms about while the bear is ripping my skin out and eating my organs. Did bears do that? I think so because the bear in front of me not only looked evil and a perfect killing machine, it also looked hungry. Great, I was turning into Friday night dessert, Bella Swan style.

This was the end. Goodbye to anyone who's listening to my crap. I'm sure you'll move on and find someone who had, ignore my mistake, someone who has a life.

The bear was getting more and more impatient and hungry if I might add as a bonus. It was probably thinking whether to eat me with my hair or without. If I was in its place, I would choose without; I didn't want to be coughing up fur balls.

But my opinion never is accounted. The bear was ready to go for the kill. I saw his claw reflecting the light from the kitchen. Then everything went into slow motion. Funny how every crisis goes into slow motion so it could torment you while you are still living.

I heard James screaming, "Move you idiot!" Maybe he did care a little about me. "Move your ass! Are you deaf bitch?!" Okay, maybe he didn't care about me. I didn't heed his advice. I mean, how could I?! I was stuck on the spot; my legs wouldn't budge.

The claw got higher and higher in the air. Now I wished for the damn rifle! The claw was about to come down and slash my face but before I was striked, I crashed to the floor. I heard a bang and then another growl, but quieter and less intimidating.

Did the bear jump on me? No; Edward did.

Shocked? I was. Why would Edward risk his life in order to save mine? I was just his secretary who he confided in. Nothing more, nothing less.

Electricity crackled in the air and Edward got up and offered me a hand. I accepted and Edward pulled me off the ground. I was circled by crying and over emotional women who squashed me in their tight embrace. I saw Laurent….doing something to his rifle. I didn't know what but it looked like he was loading it or something. James, Edward's dad, Carlisle and Jacob all had rifles in their hands. What on earth were they going to do? The women let go and went to their men.

I looked outside of the window and nothing was there except from darkness. _Night came quickly. I do not want to be anywhere outside; I couldn't see anything outside and anything wild or dangerous could be lurking in the shadows of the darkness. The bear was smart; it ran off before it could get hurt._

Carlisle checked me with a rifle in his hand and informed I was fine. Edward was fine too and why did he also have a rifle in his hand? Were they planning on something?

I asked Carlisle that question and he replied, "We're going outside. To check for any other untamed animals in the perimeter that surrounds us. We want to be safe living here don't we?" I nodded my head in approval but there were a few questions I needed answered.

"Why are all the men going? How do you know how to use a rifle?" That nosy person was me, if you're wondering.

"All men are going because the job would be completed quicker. Don't take this in a sexist way but what's in a forest isn't safe for women-"

"Especially someone like Bella," James interrupted.

"James, play nice," Carlisle said in a parental tone. "We all know how to use a rifle because-"

"We are the men of Chicago," James said proudly, interrupting Carlisle again.

"Would you let me talk?!" Wow, I have never heard or seen Carlisle lose his marbles. Esme rubbed soothing circles on his shoulders. All I could think about was, 'ahh how sweet'. They both still had love in their relation. You don't see many couples who have been together for a long time do that anymore in the twenty first century.

"I think I should take Bella upstairs, she barely escaped the clutches of death," Edward said to us in a velvety voice. He grabbed hold of my hand and lead slash dragged me to my room. The party was still on but nearly half of the people who were here in the beginning had left. They might have heard news of a bear attack.

I didn't notice we were in my room until Edward pushed me onto the bed. He was looking out of the window and still standing. He still had the rifle in his hand.

"Why did you save me?" I asked.

"You have a nice face; it would have been ruined by the bear," he surprised me by that statement but I wasn't shocked by the next one. "Plus, I'm not letting you die until you complete those ten tasks you know." Good to know he had a heart. An icy heart.

"Are you going to the search?"

"Yes."

"When did you all come in and why?"

"Victoria and James were upstairs and saw a bear heading towards the exterior of the kitchen. They alerted us and we saw you turn around with a bear behind you."

"So you didn't hear the conversation?" I handed him the phone. I didn't observe that all this time, the phone was printed onto my skin. I must have been really lost in my head if I didn't even know what was in my own hand!

"No. Who were you talking to? You do realize while we were standing there you spoke complete bullshit and you were about to unveil things?"

He swore! Like proper swore! I was getting giddy, I needed to calm down. Maybe this was the stuff that goes around in Alice's head when she's not thinking about fashion…or Jasper. I disconnected myself to my brain if that made sense.

"I was talking to my best friend Alice Brandon. I think I mentioned her before. I realize now I was talking 'bullshit' as you kindly put it but I wasn't aware of myself."

"Don't worry about it, nothing got spilled. We're still good. Tell me more about Alice."

"Well, her full name is Mary Alice Brandon but never and I really mean never call her Mary. She'll poke you with her hanger if you do. Jasper and I should know." Bad memories! "She's hyperactive and loves shopping. Her boyfriend who she is madly in love with is Jasper and he's your typical American boy; blonde hair and blue eyes. They're both in Paris right now and there are or were I hope, a few complications in their relationship." I think that was too much information. Wait too much information would be that I found a condom hanging on a closet door in her bedroom. So everything is cool.

"Alice I got it," I heard him whisper but thought of not saying anything; he was probably having one of his moments where he's all crazy and strange. "I'm going to go now. Searching I mean. Good night," I heard him say louder this time.

He exited but before closing the door, he flashed a dazzling smile. Wait, dazzling? What was the world coming to? It didn't help that his smile turned my insides to mush. I've been through many disturbing things; maybe that was why he had an effect on me.

I changed into my nightdress, ruined my hairstyle by styling it into a pony (I can't sleep with loose hair) and closed the curtains. I got into bed and realized I did all this in the dark. There was no light and I managed to do a couple of basic tasks. Also without injuring myself. I'm changing, into what I didn't know but I hoped it wasn't an Edward clone. The looks wouldn't be so bad though. Hold it! 'The looks'! There is seriously something wrong with me.

I changed the topic in my mind (I connected again) and all that was repeating my mind before I fell asleep was:

_I survived today! Bella Swan will __live one more day!_

_They didn't know about the conversation that Jasper and I shared!_

_This bed is comfy….I could get used to this. Comfier than mine but Edward's bed wins hands down. _

* * *

I woke up to see Esme sitting on the bed with an upset expression on her face.

"Good morning," I said.

"Good morning to you too. Did you sleep well?" I nodded my head in agreement.

"Where's everybody else?"

"Outside in the forest. We're the only two here."

"Why? What happened?"

"Edward's missing; he didn't go to the rendezvous point when time was up. They've been searching all night and so far there are no leads or anything. Elizabeth is in tears." I snorted. Esme looked confused. If I knew Edward as well I think I know, this would be a prank.

"It's a prank; Edward is full of them. He's probably in hiding or something. You're not in this are you?" I didn't want to believe Esme was a part of the prank but Edward was a smooth talker.

"God no! Why would I do something as insensitive as that? But I don't think this is a prank Bella; Edward has never been in the forest before and he went alone in the search. Everyone is really worried."

Could Edward be really lost? It was a possibility. Why would Esme lie anyway? I decided to believe her and if this ended as a prank, revenge would be sweet.

I thought of Edward lost or being the victim in negative scenarios. There was a strange feeling; I felt neither happiness nor sadness. I wasn't angry and I wasn't fine. I was sober. So what was I feeling? Loneliness? Nah, it can't be; I had Esme's company. But why did I feel empty? Hollow? Was this a dream? I pinched myself and boy, did it hurt.

"Bella, I'm going for a shower; I didn't have time to do it before. There's breakfast for you in the kitchen on the counter."

"Thanks." I got out of bed and walked in a normal pace. I didn't bother changing because there wasn't anyone home except from Esme and I. Did I call this place home? My stomach must be talking for me, not my brain.

I entered the kitchen and saw bacon, fried eggs and buttered toast on a plate. Beside it in a cup was orange juice. This was going to be a delightful breakfast. I couldn't remember the last time I ate breakfast. It was always lunch and dinner.

The food was mouth watering. This was something that would make Homer Simpson drool just by looking at it. My appetite was full. Cold orange juice and warm food are really a good combination. I was really behind in my life because I didn't know this before.

I washed the plate, cup and cutlery; this wasn't my 'home' but I have been taught manners. I finished and was about to climb the first step of the stairs when I heard the doorbell. Who was it? I decided to open it just in case it was important.

I opened the door and screamed. Loud. There on the doorstep was a….mud monster! Leaves and twigs stuck out and mud was dripping and I saw a muddy trail leading out of the forest from behind _it_.

Its body was horrible, and had unnerving green eyes. HALT! GREEN EYES?! I seriously hate Edward Masen.

He should really read _The Boy Who Cried Wolf. _He might learn a lesson or two from doing so.

Esme hurried down the stairs in a towel and gaped at Edward slash mud monster.

"It's just Edward the prankster," I informed. Esme had a look of disappointment on her face but it soon turned into determination when he tried to step inside.

"You stay right there mister," Esme ordered. "I am not having mud in my house. You can clean yourself outside, I'm sure you are familiar with the outside shower. No go."

Go Esme! She really knows how to handle people as difficult as Edward. I was about to close the door when I saw a herd of people rush closer to the house. Edward's family and Tanya. Jacob must have gone home. Thank god!

They entered the house and told us that Edward had sent them a text five minutes ago that he was fine and at home. Esme told them it was a prank and James laughed. Like it was even funny. That was an awful prank; I wouldn't even do it. Edward reentered and sat down but got high fives before doing so.

The prank was awful, but it was still a prank and I told myself there would be vengeance. Let's see how he likes it and the men who took his side.

I ordered the ladies to go upstairs and told the rascals that we were going to have a makeup session. And if they didn't leave us alone, we would be giving them one too. They all gulped and I took that as a good sign.

Once in my room, I closed the door and switched on the stereo (that Victoria brought) onto full volume. I told them that we were going to make things even. They looked eager, especially Tanya who was bouncing on the bed.

"We could dye their boxers pink," Tanya suggested. Elizabeth flushed and Esme looked uncomfortable. I told them I wasn't going anywhere near let alone touch their revolting boy stuff. We all played the parts of girly teenagers and that was what got me more riled up. If they could walk over us, we would be able to nothing because we're 'teenagers'.

"We could get them drunk," Victoria suggested. I liked that idea; the boys would be able to spill all sorts of stuff, embarrassing secrets if we were lucky.

"I think we shouldn't do that; things could get out of control and we wouldn't be able to defend ourselves if we needed to. And what if there was a fight; we would be risking our safety by caring about theirs," Esme said.

Another dead end; she was right. Then I got an idea.

"What if we only let half drink and the others sober while half of us are drunk and the rest sober. It would work! The drunks would be embarrassing themselves and the sober people would be…clueless. And we wouldn't need to be drunk to carry out this plan; we could pretend." That was my idea folks!

They nodded in approval.

"So who's going to be what?" Elizabeth asked.

"Let's see, there are five men and five women. Excellent! We will all be coupled out. Edward's dad, Edward Senior, could be drunk and you, Elizabeth could be sober.

"Carlisle could be sober and you, Esme could be drunk. James could be drunk and you, Victoria could be sober. Laurent is someone I definitely want drunk because he rarely speaks; I think it would be wise to get him loose so Tanya you get him.

"Which leaves Edward and I. I'm not getting Edward drunk but I'm going to make him uncomfortable so much he'll squirm in his seat."

I said a hell of a lot. And now we were going to put the plan in action. Revenge sounds to be a real treat.

_Not for Edward though__._


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer own twilight, not me.**

It was ten to nine. Ten minutes before I would go down and knowingly make a big spectacle of myself. I would be pretending to be drunk. It was a simple plan to carry; Esme and Elizabeth drained the alcohol beverages (it was for a good cause so nothing entirely was at lost) and filled the bottles with apple juice. We were going to drink the affected bottles and the men would be drinking the unaffected bottles.

Nothing would be screwed up; Esme scratched the affected bottles' labels with her nails to let us to know which to drink and we can easily steer the men into the right direction; the real alcohol.

While they did that a couple of hours ago, Victoria and Tanya laid out our clothes for us to wear and I seriously don't know how they did this but they actually put microphones and cameras into our clothes so everything will be recorded. Smart huh? I know this seems like something out of an action movie or something and you're wondering how on earth they managed to get that equipment, let me assure you this is real. Well, I think it is.

Anyway, while everyone was doing easy tasks, I had the worst. I was assigned to distract the boys, which was not an easy task. Every time I tried to speak, Edward cut in and every time I tried to talk over Edward, James talked over me. That cycle basically repeated itself until I left the room when I saw Esme and Elizabeth walk past.

Five to nine. In five minutes, I would be drinking apple juice and pretending it's alcohol. After five minutes I would be harassing Edward- in a good and beneficial way.

Now you must be thinking 'she's not drunk but is she on drugs?'. I'm sober and will be sober all night, but none of the men will know that, especially Edward. And you also might be wondering why in hell am I not letting Edward get drunk. It's simple really, the first day I met Edward he shocked me with his lines and now it was my turn to get the same reaction (or a better one) from him.

It was exactly nine o'clock. I walked as gracefully as I could downstairs and to the sitting room. I first saw Edward alone on the sofa with a drink in his hand. Just because we didn't want him drunk didn't mean he couldn't drink. He would be suspicious every time if we pushed him away from the drinks' table.

On another sofa I saw Victoria and James who looked comfy in each other's embrace. It would have looked even more cuter if James stopped fidgeting. I then captured Esme and Carlisle near the window, Carlisle was ogling Esme while she was being tipsy. She was a good actress; she could have fooled me. Esme then fell into Carlisle's arms and he lead her out of the room.

Elizabeth and Edward Senior weren't in the room but I was sure things were going smoothly wherever they were. Near the drinks' table I saw Tanya holding Laurent who seemed to lose his balance with every step he took. The party started without me! And how much did Laurent drink?! When they passed me to go out the room, he started muttering about toilets and sandwiches. I don't even see how they could be related in a sentence (unless you drop a sandwich into a toilet).

It was only me, Edward, Victoria and James in the room. It was a good thing Edward didn't realise me coming in, I could have fooled him on how much I drank. I personally thought Edward's focus wasn't even in this room.

I got an empty cup and filled it with apple juice and took a sip. I also took a sip of alcohol so Edward could smell alcohol hot on my breath. I didn't know what the beverage was but the bitter and strong taste dominated my taste buds. No wonder the targets were already drunk by the time I got there; one cup of this stuff could be like four or five units.

I took another sip of the alcohol. How could people possibly enjoy this stuff? I've drank alcohol before and me drinking alcohol is rare but I have a funny feeling I'll never forget the taste of this drink.

I staggered my way to Edward.

This warning came a little bit too late but who cares? Warning: this is for entertainment purposes only and if you laugh, I'll sic Alice on you. She might be tiny and pixie-like but she's a tough cookie. So laugh at Edward, not me.

I pushed Edward's chest and straddled myself on his lap. I was more comfortable than the last time I straddled him.

"Hey Edward!" I said enthusiastically (I'm drunk remember?). Edward's eyes widened in disbelief.

"You're happy to see me. Are you drunk?" Edward questioned me.

"I think sooooooooooo," I slurred. "Hey Edward, will you marry me?" Get ready for discomfort Edward!

"Why do you want to marry me?" His eyes were still wide but something glimmered in them, I think something like hope. Keep dreaming Romeo!

"When people ask me…….why I…..committed adultery….I'll say my husband's an ASS."

"Then why would you marry me if I'm an 'ass'?"

"You have a nice ass…..nice and assy. I like big BUTTS and I can not LIE, you other brothers can not deny…..I like big BUTTS and I can not li-"

"Stop, you're making a fool of yourself. So if I said yes will you still marry me?"

"Not anymore you ass! Your dick has been wedged up in your ass so high, when you pisssssssssssss you jump up ten feet in the air."

I was making a fool of myself (and of Edward); apparently James and Victoria had been eavesdropping. James had a weird and creepy baby look on him and Victoria was muffling her giggles. Maybe a 'drunk' Bella was funny.

But if I was really drunk, I would be acting worser than this or worser than what was going to come up. Some people get violent when drunk, I'm never violent; sober or out of my mind. But who knows what I'll do if Edward's in front of me and I've got a baseball bat in my hands. Probably beat him to the size of a pulp……Let's not get distracted.

Now I was going to play the master card or the gold card or whatever.

"Hey Edward! I wish I had maths homework like you because you'd be hard and I'd be doing you on my desk."

Edward's eyes widened more if that was possible. And his mouth was hanging open. He looked similar to yesterday evening, when the bear was behind me. To tell you the truth, Edward looked like a lamb; lost and well….innocent. My lines were getting better to.

"You hit on me….First time without me starting it," he managed to get out. I laughed, hysterically and manically. I sounded like a hyena in pain.

"Edward, you look like a laaamb. A lamb! Mary had a little LAMB, a little LAM- no Edward had a little LA- no Edward IS a little LAMB, a little LAMB….Awww man! I forgot how it goes. Do you know how it goes Edward? Baaa! BAAA!" I was screaming like an idiot and making feeble animal sounds.

Edward gave no reply, he was just staring at me like I was mentally unbalanced. I probably was.

"I'm easy, but you look haaarrd," I wailed in his ear. It didn't satisfy me. "AAHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed in his ear, I mean literally screamed.

Edward flinched from the volume and jumped up. I crashed to the floor with a loud _boom. _

Crap, that hurt. I wouldn't be surprised if my butt is sore from the fall.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Edward growled out.

"I see you winding and grinding up on that pole, I know you see me lookin' at you and you already know I wanna fuck you, you already know I wanna fuck you, you already know."

"What-"

"My hump my hump my hump, you love my lady lumps."

"The-"

"This shit is bananas B-A-N-A-N-A-S."

"Hell?!"

"Shoulda known shoulda cared shoulda hung around the kitchen in my underwear, acting like a lady. You shoulda made m-"

"Stop?!"

"Oops I did it again."

"Are you fuckin' stupid?!" I heard him ask me.

"I think so," I said innocently. "Oh, I'm still lying on the floor. Billy Jean is not my lover, she's just a girl who claims that I am the ONE!"

"ENOUGH!"

"Never heard of Michael Jackson?" I asked cheekily.

"I have, your singing is just plain awful."

Awww! What a girl wants to hear.

"I wasn't singing; I was talking," I muttered.

"I. Don't. Care."

Fine! Then he won't mind me continuing.

"Yeah you, PMS like a bitch I would know."

"Would you fucking stop?!" He's pissed! Never thought strong such strong language would come out of his flirty lips.

"O.K!" I cheered.

He walked out of the room and I heard Victoria and James chuckling. I walked out and followed Edward up the stairs. He went into a room which I thought was his and I entered.

"Your room is nice Eddie-boy," I complimented. It was true; the walls which were a dark colour contrasted with the carpet which seemed to be a light yellow colour. Everything was contrasted in this house, or mansion.

"Shut up," he growled.

"I love you I love you I love you, there's no other way-"

Edward who was in the other side of the room rushed to my side and attacked my lips. It was rough but I felt tingles on my skin. He stopped and began sucking on my neck. I moaned.

"Bella," he whispered huskily, " I have a snake and he wants to enter your garden."

Crap! Was he hinting on, _gulp_, sex?

"How do you like your eggs? Fertilised?"

I was pretending to be drunk in front of him, was he going to take advantage of me in my 'state'?

What if he knew?!

He began stroking my cheek with one hand and with the other, he was scooping my backside.

I was stuck. I couldn't breathe. If I rejected him, he would be positive I was fooling with him and if I had sex with him, it would seem like he won and all of it would be recorded by the microphone and possibly the camera! And everybody would see it! I was doomed!

"Shit! I need to go to the toilet. Stay here love, I'll be back in two ticks."

_Hallelujah! _

_Hallelujah!_

I was saved! I started laughing. Edward was one strange guy; before sex he had to go to the toilet. Who does that? I heard the toilet flushing and a tap running.

Crap! I wasn't saved yet. What was I going to do now?!

* * *

**'I like big butts.....'- Baby got back by Sir Mix-a-Lot.**

**'I see you winding and grinding up on that pole......'- I wanna fuck you by Akon.**

**'My hump my hump my hump....'- My humps by Black Eyed Peas.**

**'This shit is bananas....'- Hollaback girl by Gwen Stefani.**

**'Shoulda known shoulda cared.......'- The show by Girls Aloud.**

**'Oops I did it again'- Oops I did it again by Britney Spears.**

**'Billy Jean is not my lover.......'- Billy Jean by Michael Jackson.**

**'Yeah you, PMS.....'- Hot 'N' Cold by Katy Perry.**

**'I love you I love you.......'- These words by Natasha Bedingfield.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns twilight, not me. **

**Warning: The ending of this chapter might be considered disturbing, uncomfortable or possibly strange for the purposes of humour only. **

The bathroom door was opening, much to my dismay it was opening _fast_. Someone was a little eager tonight. Either that or his 'soul mate' with who he is in love with hasn't given him any goods. Or she has and he just can't pass a free fuck.

That bastard. He probably cheats on her behind her back.

Edward was in my line of sight and approaching. So I did what other people do in this type of sticky situations. I rolled my eyes and dropped to the floor. I wasn't scared of falling and probably causing a fatal injury, because I've been there and done that.

I might tell you what happened later, if you behave.

Anyway, my eyes were bolted shut and I was lying on the soft and comforting carpet. I felt two hard and strong arms lift me and drop me onto the bed.

I felt the bed lift and I realized Edward wasn't on the bed. I didn't open my eyes, yet, because I was still treading on dangerous territory.

Then all of a sudden, I felt my top.....being lifted. Was he still going to have sex with me, even if I was 'sleeping'?! What a pig! I felt like slapping him, which I did manage to accomplish yesterday. I thought Edward had successfully managed to remove my top but I was gladly mistaken; my top was still on me, keeping me warm and protecting the forbidden farm underneath from Edward's repulsive gaze.

I felt him tugging on my top in frustration. He's got no strength! If he wanted it off so desperately, why didn't he just rip it off? I heard a defeated sigh and controlled the hysterical laugh that was about to erupt from my lips.

He didn't manage to successfully take my top off, but he lifted the hem of my shirt and began rubbing my abdomen. His hands were stimulating and soothing in an intimate manner. He began to draw circles and for a few seconds, I felt as if he were writing his name. The electricity was there, but more stronger and eye-opening.

I moaned as I felt his fingers, his piano playing fingers, circling my belly button. He stopped instantly, and my heart was hammering out of my chest. I didn't want to get caught, not now or ever with Edward. And if I did now, I wouldn't know what the worse was: Edward hinting on sex and me agreeing with him because I was 'highly intoxicated by alcohol' or I actually wanted to have sex with him from the impact of touching.

I moaned again, to convince him I wasn't awake. Then I remembered Edward knew I talked in my sleep. What was I dreaming of in the car? Oh yeah, my childhood.

"Mom, Phil is a great guy," I muttered. "He didn't complain once when I whacked him with his baseball bat."

I heard Edward chuckle. By the way, that really did happen before I moved to Forks. Not once did I manage to hit Phil with an object, but numerous times. The deadliest object I would say was the hot oil even though that's not an object but it must have hurt like hell for Phil to recite the Bible. In my defence, anybody would have been shocked to see their mum's husband right it front of them in their birthday suit. Did I mention the pan of hot oil was in my hands? I'll leave the gory bits for you to imagine.

"I hate surprises," I mumbled, "I didn't even want a Jack in the box."

I heard the opening of a door and silently prayed Edward left. Unfortunately no-one was currently above to answer my prayers.

"Is she okay?" Tanya asked. I was glad it was her and not anyone like James, even if he was drunk and probably didn't know what the alphabet was.

"I think she passed out," Edward replied. Did he project a sorrow tone?

"Ha!" Tanya laughed. Oh, she definitely knew what was going on. "Probably didn't want to get done by you. Personally, I can't blame her." Cool, she was smug.

"Ditched Laurent have you? Wasn't he satisfying you or was James the one you really wanted? Too bad Victoria has him, but I know that won't stop you." He was irritated, I knew he was by the loud exhales and inhales coming from him, but that didn't mean he could be an asshole towards Tanya.

I slightly opened my eyes and was relieved Edward's back was facing me so he couldn't see me but I got tense when I saw a tear rolling down Tanya's cheek. Edward's statement hurt her, in every way imaginable.

Without a making a sound, which was shocking to me, I raised both my hands and did the famous- I see everybody doing it all the time- hand gestures that Ross (and Joey) did in _Friends _which substituted the middle finger to Edward.

Tanya saw this and stifled back a laugh. I repeated the gesture to encourage her to stand up for herself. She wiped the tear with the back of her hand and repeated the hand gestures. She even did the other one where Ross swings his elbows. I shut my eyes in precaution.

"What the hell was that?" Edward asked. Poor guy if he has never seen _Friends_.

"Never mind. I had a conversation with Bella yesterday and she said in these exact words 'I just love a man who knows _Friends_'. Meh-he-he-he-he-he-he!" It was me this time who stifled back a laugh when she imitated Janice's bray.

"Whatever. Help me get out of her clothes, I don't want her to sleep in those clothes," he ordered.

"Get out," Tanya barked.

"No."

"You're a man and she's a woman, her body is different than yours and don't you respect her? Do us both a favour and get out," Tanya insisted.

"Thanks for the Sex Ed lesson, now I know why we have different bathrooms," Edward said sarcastically. "I respect Bella more than I do to my parents so I'll go." His tone was serious and I _would_ have believed him if I was someone else.

'I respect Bella more than I do to my parents' my ass!

I heard the door and close. I opened my eyes slightly for a quick peek and was glad only Tanya was in the room standing next to the bed and Edward was out of sight.

We blasted into a fit of hilarious laughter but calmed down in case Edward was eavesdropping or in hearing range which was stupid to me since this whole place was badly sound proof. Tanya handed me clothes and informed me they were Edward's and he kindly offered to let me borrow them. I changed in the bathroom and jumped under the duvet of the bed and sighed when I felt like I was lying on a cloud.

I thanked Tanya for all the help she gave me and also an apology from Edward's behalf. Tanya left and once again I closed my eyes and felt Edward's presence in the room.

I felt the bed shifting slightly and realised I wasn't the only occupant; Edward was with me and we were sharing the same bed. Edward's arm snaked around my waist which brought me closer to his chest. He let out a long sigh and I felt his head nuzzling my hair.

No matter how comfortable I was in this position, I was also disturbed if that was the right word because WHO would share a bed with their secretary whom they have only known for a week? Yeah people have one night stands with strangers and yeah people sleep around with people they aren't supposed to be sleeping around with but sharing a bed with someone is a big thing. It's intimate and the position we were in was a lovers' position. And me and Edward, secretary and boss, didn't fit to be in this position at all.

So I tried to put him off; tried to leave me the hell alone.

"Jacob, your nose is bigger than your dick," I mumbled. "And you have a really small nose, a rice grain is bigger."

Edward shifted uncomfortably.

"Periods suck, why are mine always heavy?" This was something I never thought I would ever discuss, not even to Renee who was my mother, who experienced periods too (obviously) but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Edward once again shifted uncomfortably.

"Mom, are boobs better than man nipples?"

Edward let out a groan.

"Don't lose your virginity to a bike." I remembered the encounter I had with Emmett when we had a 'fascinating' conversation.

"I think he raped a lamp post."

Crap! No effect.

"Alice, I think my boss has a penis. But I'm not sure because he has a womb."

Still no reaction.

"Are all big-shot lawyers like that?"

Bingo! I heard a low growl rumbling from his chest. Uh oh, I think I made him mad. He tightened his grip on me and forced me closer.

"Nice eyes though," I complimented. I felt him relax. Wrong move. Wrong move!

"But there's something wrong with his nose." I heard him growling again. I was trying to make him uncomfortable not pissed in rage! I was tired and humiliated. If the last one didn't work, I would give up.

"I have boobs and they bounce when I move."

I failed; Edward didn't move away but instead, he chuckled. So I did what I promised, I let myself go in Edward's embrace. In a lovers' embrace.


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns twilight, not me.**

**A/N: There's a new poll on my profile page and it asks about the quantity of pick-up-lines you would like to have in the future of this story. Please answer it, it'll only take a couple of seconds and I'm assuring you that this won't be time wasting. If you want to be specific, have questions or suggestions or anything you would like to discuss, please PM me. Criticism is welcome, nothing harsh I hope, to improve this story. Thanks for reading this note!**

I awoke to the sound of calm breathing and bird chirpings in the background. My eyes fluttered open and the sight in front of me made me gasp. Edward, my boss and a person who I tremendously dislike (hate being a strong word and we're not _quite_ there yet) was lying in front of me on his sides, and viewing me curiously. His green eyes were burning, with a strong emotion I couldn't place and he looked much better than I had ever seen him before. I didn't realize I was staring until his hand gently pushed my mouth up.

I bolted my mouth shut after that just in case it dropped again.

"Good morning. How did you sleep?" he asked.

"Fine," that was a lie. I had never slept better before in my life; for once in my life I felt refreshed and at peace after a slumber. "How was yours?"

"Best one I had in my life." Was that a compliment or should I have been worrying about that statement. "I suggest we do that again, possibly everyday." What?!

"Are you implying on sex?" I whispered, not wanting anybody to hear our 'delightful' conversation.

"I'm merely suggesting sharing the same bed, but if you want to take it a step further, I have no complaints. Are you going to provide the protection or shall I?"

"Shut up," I mumbled. He's got a raunchy mind.

"I think I should provide because I received government funding for a seven-hour expedition to find your G-spot." Yes folks, Edward-the-flirt is back with his inspiring lines.

"Hey, I thought you were an insomniac," I said to change the subject.

"Not anymore if we share the same bed from now on," he informed.

"Keep dreaming."

"Why dream when I can get the real thing?" he winked at me. I snorted. "I admit that I'm not Fred Flintstone but I bet I could make your bed rock."

"Was that supposed to persuade me to jump into bed with you?"

"You nearly did that last night." Because of him!

"I was drunk!" I tried to help him remember.

"You were drunk. So, how is the killer hangover? Where's the invisible puke? Never lose your virginity to a bike Bella." Crap! He was suspicious.

"Not everyone vomits! And you jinxed me! I can feel a big headache arriving, if my brain explodes I'm taking yours. Wait, yours is too horrid, I'm sure you have a spare one lying 'round." Maybe being cheeky will get him off my back.

"Do you think I am stupid?" he asked me, eyebrows raised.

"Yes," I replied bluntly.

"Then please explain to me why half of my family, who were all females acted excited yesterday. I told you I could read people and yesterday, the isolation made me curious."

"How long have you know?" I asked, hope gone since he broke down the walls of my revenge.

"After Tanya left." Really? After his questioning, I thought he knew all night.

"How? How come you didn't realize earlier?"

"Earlier, I did think you were drunk. But after Tanya came and stood up to me, and she is a big pushover, made me think what the hell was going on. I wondered what encouraged Tanya to defend herself and by those weird movements……"

"You seriously have never seen _Friends_?"

"I don't waste my time watching shit like you do." That was harsh.

"I'm deeply offended by that!"

"Do I give two fucks about you?"

"What happened to the 'I respect her more than I do to my parents'?" he didn't respond. Instead, he looked blankly at the wall. To ease up the tension I asked, "Have you ever played leapfrog naked?"

The corners of his mouth rose and his orbs met mine. "Are you flirting now Ms. Swan?" he teased. "That wasn't a bad one actually but my lines are better."

"That was a classic!" I argued.

"If it was a classic, no one would use it anymore," he argued back.

"You can't prove your lines are better than mine, just because you said more than me……"

"You just proved my point."

"It's not about the quantity; it's all about the QUALITY!"

"I hear you loud and clear soldier! Now forget about it; I'm not going to spend my free time practicing my occupation. I've been doing that since I was born and I would pretty much like a break."

"Whatever." I rose to get out; yes we were still in the same bed. Suddenly, I got yanked down.

"Where do you think you're going?" Edward asked, his breath tingling my shoulder. "I can't resist you in my clothes." I forgot what I was wearing: boxers and a large (for me) but completely comfortably shirt. Did I mention it smelt nice?

"I'm getting far away from you," I prayed.

"Oh no you are not. We are going to have a long discussion…….Fuck this; you have pretty eyeballs but they would be better if they were eyeing my pretty balls." Is it me or has he been practicing?

I mustered all the strength I had, which was not a lot because I momentarily woke up, and heaved to get away. I fell flat on my face on the carpet and heard Edward chuckling behind me. Would anyone be kind enough to check if my ass was hanging in the air?

Wait don't bother; I received a compliment from Edward, "You said I had a nice ass but I just want to eat yours honey." Not so much of a compliment now………

I jumped up and because Edward was a huge _Friends_ fan (note the sarcasm) I gave him the same hand gestures Tanya gave him last night and stormed out.

While carefully stepping down the stairs, I thought how it wasn't fair that our plan went downhill. We spent the whole Saturday organizing and preparing ourselves for the perfect revenge. All I got was humiliation and a slot in Edward's bed, which is not something to be proud of.

I entered the kitchen to see Esme, alone. I asked her how last night went and she blushed so I dropped it because I didn't want the dirty details. I sat myself on a stool and focused, not stared, at Esme. She was beautiful, which I thought the first moment I met her and obviously she was the type of woman all people, even the most cold-hearted liked. She was welcoming and loving and gentle, in simple she had positive connotations. And she was obviously married to Carlisle.

_Did she have any kids?_

Not that every couple in a committed relationship had to at least have one, but Esme gave off vibes as an 'affectionate mother' and Carlisle was the perfect role-model; he was a doctor whose job was to help people medically and he was good looking if I might add. And they didn't mention any children. Did they have any or were they trying?

"Esme, I'm not trying to pry or sound offensive but do you have any children?" I asked.

Esme gave me a strange look. "Yes, a boy." I never knew! I wonder whose hair colour he had. Did he look anything like his parents? What was his nam-wait, where was he?

"Where, who?" I queried.

"I thought you knew James?" Huh? What has he got to do with anything?

"Are you talking about that kidnapper?"

She laughed. "James is mine and Carlisle's son." Holy shit! How?!

"He can't be! I asked Carlisle how he knew James and he said that he knew James by his nephew, not his son!"

"Bella, Carlisle, James and I have had problems in the past…." She calmly said. I offered her sympathy by patting my hands on her shoulder. The calming effect must have worked because she continued, "When James was seven, we wanted another child. And when I mean by 'we' I meant the three of us. When I announced I was pregnant, I didn't know who was happier; me and Carlisle combined or James.

"The pregnancy was going well until….I was eight months pregnant. I was driving in January in Forks and you know what the weather or climate is like there. I'm not much of a driver but I had to pick James up and on my way to his school, the car lost its grip on the ice and I had an accident. I don't remember the accident befalling but I remember waking up in the hospital, and receiving pity looks from the nurses. I knew something was wrong and I couldn't feel Annette Josie Serenity.

"I was told Carlisle was operating on me and he had the option of either saving me or Annette Josie Serenity, one of us was going to die. He chose me. I was in depression for a few months after the incident, so was James. You could say he lost his innocence. He started acting more harsh and soon there were complaints of bullying from his school. I couldn't do anything to help; I was still mourning for my lost unborn child and Carlisle worked more shifts at the hospital, I rarely saw him at home."

She was sobbing now; I got up and hugged her for comfort.

"One day I got a phone call from school and they said he….threatened to kill himself. He was young then but he wasn't stupid. Because of my carelessness, he found a bottle of rat poison and took it to school. He threatened to drink it. I rushed to school with Carlisle; we already lost one child and we weren't going to lose another.

"By the time we got there, he was ready to drink. He created a big riot, police were there and also doctors ready to pump him if he drank it. No-one managed to take it off him because he threatened he would drink it if someone took a step closer. And nothing changed James' mind.

"He was about to drink it but we managed to persuade him otherwise….we were going to attempt to get another child. We were going to bring Annette Josie Serenity back for him and also for me and Carlisle. A couple of months later, my periods stopped. I thought I was pregnant again but I wasn't showing the symptoms of pregnancy, the pause of menstruation being the exception. I told Carlisle that and he did a check up on me. He confirmed I wasn't pregnant.

"I didn't believe him. I bought pregnancy tests numerous times and the same result came; negative, not pregnant. I didn't know what was wrong. I finally found out the cause; menopausal. My heart broke; Annette Josie Serenity wasn't coming back. When James caught a whiff of this news, he went worse than before.

"Believe it or not, I was stronger this time. We went for adoption but James wanted a biological sibling, he wanted to be proud of the name he had given. So then we hired a surrogate mother to carry Carlisle's child, but Carlisle couldn't do it.

"We gave up. James was going to give up, give up with his life. All James wanted was a younger brother or sister, he was young, he wasn't stupid but emotions could easily manipulate one's mind. We sent him to psychiatrists, but he didn't improve. So then Elizabeth suggested he come over to live with them. He wouldn't feel lonely since Edward was there and they were roughly the same age.

"So we gave in. We sent him to Chicago and James fit it perfectly. We visited every chance we got and after a few years, he stopped calling us mom and dad. Our relationship weakened, ties were broken. We met rarely, like times like this. Carlisle and James barely talked, barely acknowledged each other.

"Sometimes I think he doesn't love us anymore." Her breathing became erratic and more tears fell out of her glistening eyes.

I tightened the hug. How could James be so insensitive? Esme has been through more than he has; she lost her second child and she found out she won't be able to conceive anymore.

"Did you know we all picked the names; I picked Annette; James picked Rosie; Carlisle picked Serenity?"

I rubbed her back to let her know she could let it all out, all the grief and pain out. "Thanks for sharing that with me Esme," I calmly said. She stopped sobbing and I gave her a tissue to wipe away the tears.

"No, thank you Bella," she corrected.

"When will I get my hug Bella?" Great! The flirt was here, just when I thought I got rid of him. And when did he come in? He sat on the stool I was occupying before. Bastard took my seat. Now I have to sit on a cold stool! I didn't reply; we were in company and Esme had already witnessed the foul language I possessed and I didn't want a repeat performance.

I gave him a cheeky grin behind Esme's back. Esme and I pulled away and I sat on another stool.

God, the stool was so cold I felt like I was sitting on ice. I rubbed my backside to warm it up a little.

"So Bella, any thoughts about having children yet?" Esme asked me. What would I say? I didn't know the answer myself.

"There's no one I have romantically at the moment," _or any time in the future_, "so I can't really give a straight answer," I replied honestly.

"I don't mind being a donor," Edward contributed to the conversation. I blushed, why does he always speak at the wrong time? Why does he even talk at all?

"Edward Anthony!" So Anthony was his middle name, the name suits him. But don't tell him that. Esme taunted, "Haven't you been raised better? Seriously, I expect that sort of behaviour from a philanderer. Are **you** a philanderer?"

"No Aunt Esme," Edward tonelessly said. "But I have been raised to help a woman in need, and I wouldn't be a gentleman if I failed to offer services to a beautiful lady like Bella or to you Aunt Esme."

His defense was quite flattering, but why did I feel there was a double meaning to his statement?

"And believe me," he said huskily, his dark green orbs meeting mine, "Bella will be finding my services more than satisfactory. Thrilling and sensational, possibly."

I was instantly wet. First time! First time! I had to be careful….Wait, was I wearing panties?

Thank god yes! I wouldn't mind leaving a present though……

"Edward Anthony! You **are** a philanderer! No one likes a womanizer mister! Go upstairs to your room before I push you into James and Victoria's room!"

Edward's eyes widened and for a moment, he looked absolutely terrified. In a flash he disappeared out of the room and I heard loud and uneven stomping. What gives?

"What's the deal with their room?" I asked.

"Do you want to go and see?" she asked. I nodded my head in agreement but I wasn't sure. They didn't have a replica of something evil in there did they? Esme told me the directions to their room and I followed it with uncertain steps.

I knocked on the door. No reply. I opened the door…..

I gasped in shock and horror.

**That** was worse than a replica of something evil.

After seeing that, I don't think I would want to use my eyes again.

I knew there was something wrong with James (after the story told and the kidnapping) but…..this just changed all my opinions of him.

Who knew James wore hot pink Tweety boxers and red pumps?

And why the hell was he parading around in them?

Did he just spank in his ass in front of the mirror?!

No, do not, I repeat, do not, reach for the eyeliner!

I take that back! Do not flash me your _thing_……

Oh dear god! I'm mentally scarred!

_Look away! Look away!_

What the hell was he doing with the eyeliner?!

Not the lipstick too!

The worst thing was….that this was just the start……..

**A/N: Reminder of the poll. Have a good day!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns twilight, not me.**

**A/N: Sorry for taking too long to update, even though I think everybody had problems with Fan-fiction (dot) net. Anyway, I got replies and what you guys want is kind of balanced. But don't worry, I figured it out. So some suggestions would have to wait but you will be seeing them! Thank you for the help but I feel like I haven't received some because of the problem so if you haven't received feedback from me, then I would really appreciate it if you wrote to me again. I'm also sorry about James, if that disturbed you because clearly that was not my intention, but it's not what you think.....If this note bored you, I recommend this chapter. If it didn't, I still recommend this chapter! **

I sat on the stool in the kitchen, mouth hanging. At least the seat was warm. I saw a hand moving rapidly in front of my eyes but I gave them no heed. I felt icy hands on my cheeks and I snapped out of the crazy state I was in. My focus was back in the room and I saw Edward's family, minus James and Victoria (mental shudder), giving me concerned looks.

"Looks like she went into James and Victoria's room," Carlisle observed. He was right, how did he know that? "Esme, tell me she didn't go there." No reply from Esme. "Esme!"

"Sorry, I-" she started.

"It's my fault; I wanted to see what the big deal was," I honestly said, not letting Esme get the blame.

"Oh," Carlisle spoke, "my apologies."

"What did you see?" Laurent asked. Funny, he had never said anything to me before.

I didn't reply, I didn't want to remember what happened and I certainly wanted to stay mentally balanced.

"James wasn't playing monopoly naked was he?" Tanya asked me. I stayed quiet.

"I hope toilet paper wasn't hanging out of his mouth again, I would rather have it hanging out if his butt," Laurent expressed.

"He didn't puke on my carpet did he?!" Esme demanded (which was an additional shock to me), "I didn't mind when he puked on himself or on Victoria, or on the bed or even on Carlisle's car, but on my carpet!"

"He didn't puke on the carpet," I announced, trying to orally calm Esme down.

Esme gave me a nervous smile and revealed, "He didn't get his eccentricity from Tesco you know." They were all specifically gazing at Carlisle and he was looking around the room, giving everybody looks which clearly said 'What?'.

Carlisle let out a guilty chuckle and suddenly became interested with a spoon on the kitchen counter.

"Carlisle, are you trying to fool us you middle aged dog?" Edward Senior, the second person I hadn't heard from asked. Well, at least everybody was coming out of their shells.

_Especially James._

Another mental shudder.

"N-n-no, why w-would you think that?" Carlisle replied, his crystal blue eyes nervously darting around the room.

"No reason," Elizabeth calmly spoke. But I could see the smirk on her face. Edward and her had a lot of similarities between them.

"No need to be embarrassed old chap, it happens to everyone," Edward Senior reassured.

"Yeah, _everyone_ happens to be drunk on a Monday morning on the second day of junior year and happen to accidentally enter the girls' toilet and incidentally pee into the sink and manage to mistake a girl as a boy and pull her skirt down to prove she has a penis." I glanced at Edward, who was grinning victoriously from his speech.

I then turned to Carlisle, who was pretty much absorbed into a knife this time and his face were nearly as red as Edward's hair. So I wasn't the only blusher around here.

Wait…..what did Edward say?

"_Yeah, _everyone_ happens to be drunk on a Monday morning on the second day of junior year and happen to accidentally enter the girls' toilet and incidentally pee into the sink and manage to mistake a girl as a boy and pull her skirt down to prove she has a penis."_

_O.K, I'm just going ignore that for the time being. _

Esme hugged Carlisle while Elizabeth lovingly fed Edward Senior a bite of her toast. Tanya was washing the dishes and Laurent was drying. I drove my eyes back to Edward to see he wasn't even there. I heard a stool being scraped against the marble tiles and I tilted my head to get better access.

Edward was sitting next to me, in all his glory, and smiling at me.

Smiling!

His pearly and perfect white teeth were glistening against his pink, luscious lips and I had a sudden urge to kiss them, ravage them until I grew bored, which was never if I ever managed to erotically touch them.

I didn't realize I was staring until Edward chuckled. His grin got bigger if possible, and his deep and soulful green eyes were focused on me and then I felt it was only me and Edward in the whole universe.

Now I knew why Alice ignores me when she's staring at Jasper….

_Alice is in love with Jasper, I'm not in love….Especially with a guy like Edward! _

_Deep breathes. Remember Jacob who broke your heart went for Leah Clearwater….Yeah I never thought they could get together; Leah was a bitch when I used to go to La Push and Jacob was the friendliest guy there, it's true even if it sounded biased. _

"Bella, are you okay?!" Edward's tone was panicked and he attracted the attention of everybody in the room.

"I'm fine," I laughed, casually waving my arm to justify my reply. I looked around but no one projected the reactions I was hoping for, they were all staring behind me. Even Edward, who was sitting next to me had his body tilted to see behind.

What were they looking at? Did the bear come back and entered the house?

I turned around, no bear was there but James and Victoria who looked just as puzzled I might have been before.

"What?" James asked, pouring the orange juice out from the carton. He offered a cup to Victoria who gladly took it. No one replied so he tried again to suck the juice out of us, "Well?"

"Bella saw something happening in your room," Laurent blurted.

James' eyes focused on me, but unlike the way Edward's did, he actually gave me the chills. He looked pretty much like the first time we met, when he kidnapped me. But instead of stammering out an answer in fear like a normal person, I raised my eyebrows to question his actions.

That was probably one of the bravest things I have done, and probably one of the most stupid too. Why else would James throw his head back and laugh? At me?

Victoria slapped the back of his head gently, to calm him not to provoke I noticed.

"News flash for you Bella, I don't give a damn on what you saw earlier," he managed to say convincingly. But I wasn't fooled, I saw the desperation is his eyes. I wasn't going to let him get away with it, I wasn't going to prove I was a push over and let him continue to walk all over me.

"Oh really? Then you won't mind me asking why did you apply make up? I love your boxers by the way, Tweety and pink compliments you. But I can't say the same for those heels of yours." His eyes narrowed and he gave me a death glare. But I didn't care because as soon as I heard everybody in the room laughing hysterically, I soon joined them and continued my rant.

"I'm not a cross dresser," he said calmly, "I just wanted to know what it felt like. You can't blame a guy for having questions about the other sex. And the boxers were a gift from Victoria, I only wear them because it makes her happy. And I am the dominant one in the relationship, unlike the other men in this family."

That shut the others up. "Carlisle gets dressed by Esme every day, sorry _dad _if I insulted your manhood. And Uncle Edward, well let's not go there."

Huh. He was speaking the truth, about him not being a transvestite and all. But there was nothing wrong about the answer he gave, nothing embarrassing so then why did he have desperation in his eyes?

Ohhh! I then remembered what happened afterwards. There was nothing weird or abnormal about that, but it was slightly disturbing.

"No wonder Bella looked creeped out," Laurent chuckled. "But something else happened, I just know it! You weren't uh, making babies in front of her were you?"

The silence confirmed his suspicions. It was true, I wasn't a pervert though; I backed away just as they were getting started. The moans and gasps I heard on my way to the kitchen revealed what they were doing.

"We were," James stated proudly. "So who's the hottest couple here?" He bragged.

"Not you and Victoria," Laurent replied with a smirk.

James' smile fell. "Who then?"

They all looked over to me. James' gaze followed. "Edward and Bella of course," Laurent replied nonchalantly.

"What?!" I shrieked. I couldn't believe this was happening. We were so not a couple. "We're not a-" I was interrupted.

"Honey, the cat is out of the bag, relax," Edward smirked. Did I fail to mention an arm, his arm, was resting on my shoulder?

"But-" I tried again. Instead of speaking over me like I expected, he kissed me. Mouth to mouth. The kiss was hot and full of passion, it was nothing I experienced before. He let go and winked at James, who was in shock.

I felt tingles on my lip and the feeling was unknown to me. I was in a daze but snapped out of it when Edward chuckled.

……

……

How dare he kiss me?! How dare he use me?!

I stood up quickly, feeling dizzy from the impact but that didn't stop me. "We are not a couple," I said through clenched teeth.

"Bella, no need to lie. We know what happens behind closed doors." I blushed, they actually thought we were doing it. I think.

"Awww, look, she's blushing. After all that we've done in this house…" I hate Edward. Especially when he's cocky.

"We are not a couple!" I screamed at Edward, who had an amused look on his face. "And we never-"

"Drop the act," Edward said.

"I'm not acting! We really aren't-"

"Come on Bella, do you think we're stupid?" Tanya asked, feigning hurt.

"No! But we really-"

"Bella, we have accepted you into this family even before you entered the house," Elizabeth declared with love shining in her eyes.

"Thank you but we really aren't a-"

"When am I going to get my grandchildren?!" Edward Senior impatiently asked me. "Promise me child you'll get me grandchildren."

I stared. "We're not-"

"Soon Dad," Edward promised. I sent a dirty look towards him. He just grinned at me. Bastard. "We want to get married first."

"He's lyin-"

"The sooner the better," Esme approved, she was clearly excited.

"Give me the grandchildren first!"

"Get married first!"

"Get settled in first!"

"I want the grandchildren!"

"After!"

"I can't wait to plan the wedding!"

"No wedding! Grandchildren first!"

"Grandchildren after the honeymoon!"

"I want them now! Edward take Bella to your room-"

"After the wedding!"

"We're not a couple!" I shouted. But no one heard me; they were all engrossed in the arguments between them.

"BEAR!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. I was happy of the result, but my lungs weren't.

"Where?!" They all chorused, some excited for a hunt and others scared.

"No where, I'm going upstairs to pack and to get ready for my flight." I dramatically left the room, it would have been a perfect exit if Edward didn't see me tripping on the first step.


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns twilight, not me.**

I was on the plane back to New York City. Several things happened:

1) Edward's family bid me goodbye and wished me a good flight.

2) Edward kept his promise.

3) The promise was that he and I weren't going to be sitting next to each other on the plane.

4) He managed to grab a seat next to a six foot model with gold hair and violet eyes. She was in Rosalie's category, the 'bombshell' category. I wasn't jealous, maybe of her looks but certainly not of her intelligence. I overheard them talking and who doesn't know what a lawyer was? But she was nice and continued their conversation with ease.

5) Edward was enjoying himself with Veronica- that was her name.

6) I didn't hear him say a single pick up line or anything flirtatious. This was quite a shock to me.

7) Veronica giggled at everything he said, uproariously when 'can I have coffee please' or 'excuse me I need to take care of business'-which meant he needed to use the toilet- came out of his mouth.

8) While the lucky bastard got lucky with his 'plane buddy' as Veronica cheerfully exclaimed, I was unlucky with my 'plane buddy'.

9) This was because instead of sitting next to someone who could be romantically associated with me, like which typically happens in films, I bagged someone who was more likely to be the villain in the film. James, was my 'plane buddy', who kept shooting me waning looks.

For what I didn't know, but believe me, I didn't care. All I wanted to do was to whack him, just once. On the head, on his arm, I didn't mind where but the whack had to stop me acting all paranoid and uncomfortable in my seat.

It wasn't like he wanted to be a saint around me, I could see his fists clenched and I knew he had violent thoughts too.

"Why do keep looking at me like that?" I hissed.

"I should be the one asking that question," he hissed, sounding more like a snake.

"You are looking at me!" I hissed louder than him childishly.

"Your eyes are on me!" he argued.

"So?! You're the one who locked the gaze between us!" I exclaimed.

"You chucked the key away!" he argued once again.

"You swallowed the spare one!" I argued back.

"It got out but you flushed it down the toilet!" Now this was getting too childish.

"Oh just shut up!" I shouted, fingers pressed against my forehead.

"Excuse me but you are disturbing the other passengers, please keep it down," the air-hostess said kindly but I could tell she had enough of me and James; this wasn't the first time she caught us quarreling, or the fifth. We nodded our heads, ashamed that we got carried away. I looked around and saw that everyone in the first class cabin I was in, was staring at me and James, some amused while the others couldn't believe their eyes on what they encountered.

I peeked at the direction Edward was in, he and Veronica sat two seats behind us on the left. To my relief, they were the only ones who were oblivious to the argument James and I had a few seconds ago because they both had headphones on.

The air-hostess left, to attend some other passenger but she kept a close eye on us. When her job was finished, I saw her exit the cabin and everybody else soon grew bored waiting for something again to happen between me and James. They resumed the activity they were doing before and I peeked once again around the cabin and found out no eyes were on us.

Good.

I whacked James hard on the arm with my left hand and he muttered an 'ow'. He glared at me while I just grinned. I looked around once again when suddenly I felt something tug my hair. I ignored it but the pull became stronger. If I said it didn't hurt, I would be lying.

I focused my attention back to James to glare at him. He gave me an innocent look. I shifted my eyes but once again I felt the tug. Steam was pouring out of my ears. With all the strength I managed to muster, I pushed him.

_Thud._

I couldn't prevent the laughter that poured out of my mouth. The hot steam was gone but the hysterical laughter just kept me going. I couldn't believe that I, Bella Swan would be able to push a fully grown man who probably worked out, out of his seat. Me!

James was spread out on the floor, his head was near an old lady's foot and his feet were near his seat. I looked to see the old lady's expression and bursted into another fit because she, looked shocked.

I stopped suddenly laughing when I saw black heels near James' head. I knew who those heels belonged to and I gulped. James did too. I raised my head in fear and the air-hostess who had a few strands of grey hair- probably caused by James and I- narrowed her hazel eyes at us. Her jaw was clenched and she seemed to be struggling with controlling herself.

She let out an angry huff and I realized it was quiet in the cabin, not peacefully quiet but deadly quiet.

"What happened here?" she calmly asked. I knew it was rhetorical because even a goldfish would be able to figure out what happened with James lying on the floor and me laughing like a maniac.

Nobody answered.

"Well?" She put her hands on her hips and her gaze went to me and then to James repeatedly, like a swing.

"I couldn't sleep on the seat."

"He didn't take his pills so he thought he was a doormat."

We both replied at the same time. Stupid!

Her gaze narrowed more and in a strangled voice she said, "I'm not an idiot. I clearly know what happened here, if you do one more thing to jeopardize the calmness of this trip, I will personally see it that you won't be traveling with us again."

She stormed out of the cabin and James got back on his seat.

I was waiting to see a glare or a dirty look from him or maybe a push to get even but instead, he grinned like an idiot and raised his hand in the air. I slapped my hand against his and we laughed under our breath.

"Did you see her face? I thought she was going to _explode_." James joked, amusement in his voice and in his eyes.

"I was actually concerned about us, if that vein on her forehead popped, our clothes would have been ruined," I joked back.

"True," he agreed. We collected ourselves and I looked around, people were looking at us but their amusement in what happened didn't affect me; I wanted to see if Edward and Veronica noticed the spectacle that occurred.

They did and they were staring at us, Edward looked like he was in pain and Veronica was looking at me in an odd way. I nudged James and he followed my gaze. He suddenly chuckled and I asked what was funny.

"Edward's fly is open."

I lowered my gaze and James was right; his fly was open. I chuckled with James and soon, it turned hysterical. I was clutching onto my sides for dear help and James was doing the same. What we were laughing at wasn't hilarious but the absurdity of it made it hilarious. If that made sense.

We abruptly stopped when another air-hostess appeared in the cabin. She was looking around and when her eyes fell on us, we feigned innocence; I began reading a magazine while James was winking at her. I snorted and came up with a brilliant idea to waste time.

I whispered into his ear, "Let's play truth and dare but instead of choosing, the game will be on a rota, dare first then truth and then dare and so on. Agree?" It was childish but it'll waste time.

He nodded. "I'll go first because it was my suggestion. I dare you to umm….ask that air-hostess out," I whispered.

He got up and headed towards the air-hostess.

"Would you like something sir?" she asked politely.

"Will you go out with me?" he asked, ignoring the question she asked him.

"What?" she asked confused.

"Will you go out with me?" he repeated slower.

"No."

"Please?!" He faked hurt. "I can't live without you!"

He was attracting the attention of everybody in the cabin.

"Sir, you have to calm down," she said nervously.

"Why? Is there someone else?" he asked.

"It's none of your concern but I'm engaged."

"That's nice, coffee when we land?" I stifled a giggle.

"Sir, I. Do. Not. Want. To. Go. Out. With. You." She said, eyes narrowed.

"You have to! What will my wife say?" he asked cheekily.

"Leave me alone," she spat. "I will never go out with you and pardon me but your wife has issues if she's with you."

Now that is cold. Extremely cold.

Now James was mad. "You think I want to go out with you?!" he raised his voice so everybody could hear. "Your ears are too small for your head and your nose looks like it wants to poke me! Whoever you are engaged to must be a really unfortunate and desperate man to propose to you."

The airhostess' mouth was hanging open and there was another silence. James walked back to his seat and plopped down. "That was really cold," I whispered, sympathetic for the girl. He snorted.

"My turn," he was grinning devilishly. "I dare you to…make Edward realize his fly is open but you can't just shout 'your fly is open' the moment you get there. Go get him."

That wasn't a bad dare actually. I got up and approached Edward and Veronica. They expectantly looked up to me and I asked Edward, "Do you have the time?"

"Yeah, it's-"

"Time to fly!" I exclaimed, my arms shot up.

"Huh?" Veronica asked. I ignored her.

"It's O-P-EN. It's O-P-E-N. It's O-P-E-N. It's O-P-E-N. It's O-P-E-N." He didn't get what I was saying to him.

"It's O-P-E-N!" I shrieked.

"What's open?" he asked, obviously confused.

I beamed at Veronica and Edward and for a second, they looked slightly dazed but went back to their previous state.

"Your fly, silly." Edward still looked puzzled. "Look down," I ordered. He did but didn't notice the openness of his fly. I had to take matters into my own hands, quite literally. I reached for the zip of his fly and proved it was open. I looked up and saw Edward's cheeks slightly pink. I heard James chuckling and I winked at him. I returned my gaze back to Edward who hastily pulled the zip up, which closed the fly.

I beamed at them once again and made my way back to my seat.

"My turn. What can I ask you?" What could I ask him? "Why did you kidnap me?"

"To get even with Edward," he replied but after he saw my confused expression he continued, "Edward kept talking about you and I figured the best way to get him annoyed and even the scores was to get you with me. So I kidnapped you. Thanks for dropping the charges and I was only being an ass to you because I thought you as a money-and-sex-loving type of woman. I was completely wrong. You're cool you know."

I was touched.

"I thought you _were_an ass but you're like able," I blurted. I slapped a hand on my mouth, eyes wide and James was chuckling again.

"If Edward does something to you, I won't say anything to him but I'll do something. You're like a little sister to me."

"Aw thanks!"

"But no word to Edward; I'm the bad man to him." I gave him a smile. "I believe it's my turn now to ask the question."

"Okay, shoot."

I was wrong; my 'plane buddy' was cool. Just hope he won't ask about Saturday night when I was 'drunk'.

**A/N: Are you glad that Bella dropped charges against James? If he wasn't here but rotting in prison, who would humour us? ;D Have a nice day!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns twilight, not me. **

3

2

1

_Ding._

Wow. It has been one week, officially one week from the moment I had started working here. If there was no time, which was pretty hard to imagine, it would have seemed longer. Probably a year or two. Wait, didn't I say if there was no time? Do years have anything to do with time? I don't _think_ so because when people ask for the time, I don't think they would like to have their reply in years. Or months. But years are connected to time…I think.

Wait, years _are_ time.

Why am I boring myself to sleep? Just because I did not get any last night does not mean this is the time (nor place mind you) to have a nap. If I did fall asleep in an elevator or on my desk- heaven forbid- and the last person I absolutely do not want to see on a Monday morning notices me…I'll permanently sleep forever. Not literally of course and not because I'm worried of losing my job. I don't think Edward would do that to me, especially after the games he played with me. And he's still playing.

Uhh! So infuriating. I have more tasks to do as well. Isn't there a fine line between personal and business? (It's supposed to be love and hate but bear with me.) And Edward just becomes international. One moment he's in personal land and takes- or forces more like- his innocent secretary (me) to visit his family in a forest in Chicago and the next he's in business land and flirts shamelessly with me!

The lack of sleep is not the only reason why I'm feeling…strange to say at the least.

When I got home after the flight, I checked my voice mail to find two phone calls from Rosalie and one from Alice.

Alice's went: **Bonjour Bella! C'est Alice! I love you so much! Oh my god! You're a real relationship guru. I don't know what you did but it worked! After Jasper hung up, he forgot all about those garlic blondes and came up to me! Me! And kissed me! After ten minutes of making out, he kicked them out of his room and the hotel and then we had a wild night. Oh my god. Jasper did this thing with his-**

Fast forwarded.

**It felt divine! I thought I was going to explode. So to pay him back, I bit his-**

Fast forwarded again.

**I'm sure you don't want to hear all the nasty bits which I call LOVE MAKING or SEX or FUCKING…Pardon sir? Sorry, I'll keep it down. Where were we Bella? Seriously, the people here. You'd think they would appreciate the tourists. Anyway, I remembered but let's change the topic if you're getting uncomfortable. I saw this vintage dres- what did you say Jasper? Jasper says hi! Oops, got to go. One more thing, my trip is a few days extended so don't wait up! Bye and take care! And by the way, who on earth is Andrew?**

Alice was lucky, Rosalie…not so much.

For Rosalie's first one went: **Hey Bella! It's me, Rosalie. My hen night is on Friday and I was wondering… if well you wanted to go. But that's not the main reason I called, you see I just found out one of my bridesmaid can't attend the wedding. So, I was curious if you wanted to fill in. You're not pressurized into anything and I realise we acquainted just under a week ago and why am I being so formal? Anyway, it's up to you. Phone back!**

I was secretly touched because of a beautiful, person –not sure if that was the best word for Rosalie- who was both a stranger and friend in many ways, wanted me to be in her wedding. _**In**_ the wedding!

But unfortunately, I heard the second phone call from Rosalie: **It's me again, Rosalie. I'm really sorry, I just feel like a bitch. You have no idea how much I wanted to delete the last message. If I knew how to do it, I would have done it. I'm really, really sorry but Emmett found out about the problem I had and before I could explain where you come in, he phoned his cousin to replace my cousin. It's suck. I'm really sorry Bella. But you're still invited to my hen night. Phone back.**

I was upset that there was no place for me in the wedding, but hey, she asked me didn't she?

I phoned Rosalie back, and was on the phone for two hours explaining to her that I was fine with the arrangements. I also told her that I couldn't attend her hen night; Edward had a party on that night. What a bastard. Ruins things for me. But would have I actually gone, to Rosalie's hen night I mean? Parties aren't my thing and plus, hen nights are one of the worse, drunk nights to experience. It's fun and entertaining but the morning after… just deadly. Would Alice expect me to throw her a hen night? Hope not.

Anyway, after phoning Rosalie I just went to bed. I think that showed my state of exhaustion. But no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't sleep! Every time I closed my eyes, I would picture Edward in my mind and the way we curled into each other's embrace. The lovers' embrace. Why does life suck? Correction: why does my love life and my life suck?

The only guy pinning for me is Mike Newton, mental shudder.

Back to present time, how long does it take for an elevator to get to floor 11 from the ground floor? Normally, the trip goes fast.

I glanced at the left panel and my shoulders sunk in misery when I saw I was on the 3rd floor. The elevator doors opened and instead of a herd full of coffee addicts, an old, neatly dressed man entered the elevator and gave me a polite nod. I just stared.

I don't know what compelled me to keep on staring- I mean looking. Looking, all I was doing was looking. Looking really hard and concentrating on the delicate features of his face.

I couldn't look away. I didn't why I was looking but I certainly knew it not because it was love at first sight. I mean, how could it have been that? The guy could have been a friend of Charlie's. Which was kind of impossible because all of Charlie's friends were either in Forks, in La Push or in heaven.

The guy coughed. It was obvious that he wanted to snap me out of my 'daze'. I could tell by the right eye of his- always wondering back to me. Freaky. I looked away, embarrassed about being caught and relieved that his right eye went back to where it belonged; away from me. Oh, he was definitely a gramps. Only grandparents can do weird things and manage to get away with it because you love them too much.

I sniffed.

I peeked from the corner of my eye and his right eye was trained on me. He caught me looking, once again. But this time he didn't mind, he just flashed me a brief smile. I could tell, around thirty or twenty years ago, he would have been classified as hot. But time never freezes nor stops, it just continues like the meter in cabs. People were right about one thing; time is money.

My gaze travelled to the left panel and I noted that we were near the 10th floor. Nearly there!

But before I could do a mental victory dance, the annoying ding sound was heard and the doors opened. The old guy, who I expected to rush out of the elevator and tell all his friends and grandchildren about the crazy woman he encountered in the elevator, instead walked to the door but stood in the middle so the doors couldn't close and said to me in a gentle but firm voice:

"Sweetie, if I took the long route to work, I would have definitely knocked on your door and give you flowers but, I decided to take the short route to work so I knocked on someone else's door and gave them shaving cream. Don't take it personally."

What the hell did that mean?

Long route…work…knocked door…flowers? Not only did that guy have a crazy eye but also a crazy head filled up with crazy and unbelievable explanations. But for what, I didn't know and I didn't want to know. Shaving cream?

I saw his retreating form and then wondered why he was stopping at the reception. I saw the secretary, the blonde bitch who I encountered on the first day, battle her eyelashes at him and twirl a lock of her bleached hair.

_How would she react if she saw Edward? _

No thinking of Edward, I thought about him last night and there was no doubt I would be thinking about him today. D'oh! I was already thinking about him! But as the doors closed and I felt the elevator rising much faster than it had been doing- for eternity? - I actually wondered why he stopped there.

Was he suing someone for that crazy eye of his?

_Ping._

I stepped out and breathed in. Now or never. I went to the direction of mine and Edward's offices and entered.

I was shocked to see Edward and a strange man, probably a few years younger than Edward and I, sitting on the sofas in my office. And by the look of Edward's face, I was sure he was glad I was here. But not in a good way.

He rose out of his seat and so did the other guy.

"Bella, this is Rick, the new intern who you and I will be watching over this week and Rick, this is Bella, my secretary," he introduced. I got over my shock and walked over to Rick, and shook hands with him.

There was something oddly familiar with Rick. But I let it pass.

"Bella, a word?" Edward asked, jerking his head to the direction of his office. I did nothing but nod and follow him. Once I was in his office, I began looking out of the huge window that gave a good view of the city.

"Bella, how shall I start this?" Was something wrong? "Rick…He's a new intern and will be with us for a week, as you already know. Because you're new too and new to how this works, I'll explain to you. All you do is answer the questions you can answer and I'll deal with what you couldn't, you'll give him some work from yours and you know you could give him any task you want. Well, what's appropriate anyway."

My mouth was hanging open. Flirty here was talking about appropriateness. Like he knows the word!

"Understood?" I nodded meekly. "Oh and before you go," he stepped closer to me and I could feel my pulse quickening because of an unknown reason, "If Rick does anything bad or deemed inappropriate, talk to me. I'm not saying that just because of the gist of it. Come to me, I mean it."

"Why? Is he dangerous?" To tell you the truth, that was not supposed to be coming out of my mouth.

"No it's not that," he began whispering, "Rick is not one of my favourite people. He's only here with me because I couldn't refuse his father. His father actually helped me when I was an intern with my dad.

"And when I get proof he's not fit to have an occupation in law, I'll drop his sorry ass." What? I stared hopelessly at him. "So tell me." I just nodded and left. But when I exited, I never expected to see Rick organising my desk (which was before a mess) and leaving a cup of something on my desk.

He saw me approaching and handed me the cup. I took a sip and melted. The coffee was helping with the lack of sleep. I liked him already. I didn't care what Edward told me; Edward was being an ass.

* * *

Throughout the morning, Rick and I got more and more acquainted and boy, does he know how to scare off Mike Newton. I don't think Mike will ever come out of the Ladies' bathroom now. Poor Mike. But you should never poke a hungry stranger with a fork. At least Mike knows that now.

We- Rick and I- just came back from lunch and we began imitating Mike's reaction but halted when we entered the office to see Edward and…No, it can't be. What was crazy-right-eye guy doing here? Was Edward his lawyer?

"Hi dad," Rick drawled. No, that can't be! But it was, they both had identical soft features but hey, only one of them had a crazy eye and three guesses who. His father nodded but his gaze was on me.

"This is Bella Swan, my secretary," Edward introduced.

"We've met," crazy-right-eye guy said in his soft but firm voice and to be honest, he didn't look much like a crazy-right-eye guy but a lawyer.

"How 'bout I, Bella, and you sir take this in my office," Edward suggested. I once again followed Edward to his office but this was the first time I didn't want to enter. The pounding heart and dry mouth didn't help at all. I took a seat in front of Edward's desk.

* * *

We had been here for nearly two hours. I was still sitting on my seat, like an obedient child whilst Edward and John- I learnt what crazy-right-eye guy's name was- were behind the desk, not sitting but not standing either.

For what THEY had been doing for the past 120 minutes was none of my concern and frankly, nothing out of their mouths entertained me…or at least kept me awake.

I had to struggle with keeping my eyes open. But instead of looking out of the window like I had been doing, I turned my bored gaze to Edward and John who were both intently reading…an article or something.

I then became aware of John. Who was actually sniffing Edward's hair and at the same moment, creeping his head closer to Edward's ear. And his tongue seemed to be impatient for Edward's ear.

I then figured out what he had said to me…

"Eeek!" I squeaked. Edward and John were both expectantly looking at me, both waiting for an explanation of some sort.

"What's wrong?" Edward asked me.

"I saw a bunny," I rushed out. I mentally slapped myself. How ridiculous was that answer. I could have said 'spider' or I could have said I bit my tongue (it happens). But no, what do I say? Bunny, a freaking bunny.

At least John found this humorous; he covered his laugh with a cough. Edward didn't suspect a thing. John went behind Edward but was clearly in my sight, just not in Edward's.

John was twirling his finger, like the receptionist was doing, where Edward's hair was at.

"You saw a bunny? Where?" Edward looked questioningly at me. But all I could care about was what John was doing behind Edward's back.

"Outside," I lied.

Both John and Edward turned around, looking out.

But John knew what had happened, he knew that I knew. He knew that I knew that he was gay.

"Outside?" Edward raised his eyebrow at me. He looked so damn handsome…

John coughed again and I snapped out of it.

"Uh, yeah. In the sky," I mislead. Okay, so my lie was a bit too far-stretched but who cares? My ass was going to get whipped sooner or later.

Edward raised the other eyebrow at me. How the hell did he do that? Amusement was bright in his eyes. Wow, his eyes were like emeralds and so deep…

What was wrong with me?!

"Silly Bella," he grinned. "That's an aeroplane," he pointed to the sky. He was waiting for my reply.

"Oh you're right," I said, lamely.

"John, I think it's time for you to leave. I'll see you same time tomorrow?" Edward asked while he herded me and John to the exit door of my office. I was shocked to see Rick wasn't in here.

I trudged to my desk and sat on the seat behind.

Edward closed the door and collapsed onto the sofa. What memories me and Edward had on that same sofa…

"Psss." What was that?

"PSSS!" I definitely wasn't imaging that.

I looked down and shrieked! Why on earth was Rick under my desk with TANYA! Their hair and clothes were ruffled and no doubt they were making out…under my desk! How could they fit under there anyway?

Oh, I saw. Painful.

"What's wrong?" Edward asked.

But not as painful if Edward got his hands on Rick and Tanya.

"I saw a spider…under my desk." At least that was normal.

But Edward stood up and slowly walked to my desk. "I'll kill it for-"

"No!" I interrupted harshly. Edward gave me a sceptical look. "I mean…Uh…Why kill the innocent spider? What did it do to me?"

"It made you scream," Edward pointed out.

"A mistake of mine, I don't see why the spider has to take the blame."

He stopped mid-way. If he got any closer…I could not imagine the impact.

"Have you seen Rick?" Why does Edward notice at the wrong time?

"I sent him to do an errand," I answered but added, "at lunch but instructed him to do it after lunch."

"What was the errand?"

"Personal," I muttered.

"Personal?"

"Personal, feminine needs."

"Well if you told him, you could tell me."

Crap!

"I told him to get me a bra." I didn't realise what I blurted out until Edward's eyes widened.

"But…it looks supported," he pointed to my chest. He was right of course and I needed to get my bra off.

"Hey Edward, what's that portrait about?" I asked, referring to the portrait on the wall that was opposite me.

He turned around and began explaining.

I wasn't listening; I had a bra to deal with.

I lifted my top from the back and began fiddling with the hook. What was wrong with it? Why wouldn't it unhook? Out of all the days that this could happen…

I focused my gaze back into the room and blushed when I noticed Edward was looking at me, one eyebrow raised.

"My back is itchy; when you gotta scratch, you gotta scratch." How lame could I get?

He turned around and continued. He was wasting his breath.

Finally! The damn thing came unhooked. Before Edward could turn around, I flung my red, lacy bra at Rick and pointed at the door. I stood up. This was the tricky part.

I went to Edward and pulled his tie. How many times have I done this? His eyebrow was still raised but I didn't care about that because his back was to the door and I was relieved when Rick mimicked the opening and entering. Edward turned around and I blushed when in Rick's hand was my bra.

Edward looked at my blush and snatched the bra from Rick.

"Thank you for that," Edward and I said at the same time. Edward gave me my bra and I motioned to Edward his office. He nodded and I was about to start walking when I saw Edward striding to my desk.

Crap!

"What do you think you're doing Edward?" My voice came barely louder than a squeak.

"I need to borrow something from your desk."

"No! Come with me to your office," Edward turned around and the only thing I saw in his eyes were excitement. "I need help."

No man could resist the callings of a woman with a bra in her hand. What makes Edward so different?

When I got in, I instantly took my blouse off (my back to Edward) and rushed to put my bra and blouse back on. I turned around and Edward looked impressed. Can't he dress faster than that?

I ran out of the office and dragged Rick and Tanya out of my office.

"Explain."

The explanation was going to be long and in general, this week was going to be long.


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns twilight, not me.**

"You look like my first wife," the thirty year old man whose name I had forgotten had said.

"Really?" I asked out of politeness, not particularly interested in the conversation. "How many times have you been married?"

"Oh, I'm still a bachelor," he replied with a flirtatious wink.

I rolled my eyes and walked off. That was the sixth time he had hitted on me. Do men ever learn? Or do I have to charge at them with a baseball bat?

I grabbed a plastic cup and filled it with orange juice. There was alcohol but I was restricted, by myself, from it. And I was satisfied about the safe and smart decision I made.

I took a sip and relaxed myself, I had been at this stupid party for nearly half an hour and I couldn't wait to get out of the stupid door and out of this stupid building.

The entertainment wasn't helping, at all. And what I meant by entertainment was either sluts parading in clothes smaller than handkerchiefs and giving everybody a view of their privates or men way older than you hitting on you and possibly trying to innocently lift the hem of your dress which also happened to be a 'considerate gift' from your boss.

No joke.

I tugged the hem of my black dress which rested mid-thigh and cursed Edward for the raciness that this dress possessed. Couldn't he have given me modest clothing? But no, what does he do?

He gives me a _strapless_ dress which has to be supported by my breasts and therefore lifts them up to make them look bigger and the eye candy for every single and horny bloke in this blasted party! And the thinness of this dress wasn't much of a good asset; it felt like it could rip at any moment.

"Bella!" I turned around and saw Rick, hair out of place and faint lipstick marks on his face rushing up to me. Obviously I didn't comment on his appearance; he and both Tanya knew what he looked like at the moment. It was their doing after all. They were officially in a relationship, but in a relationship which neither Edward or anybody else except from me knew about.

Edward knew Rick was going out with someone and Edward unfortunately picked out Tanya's strange behaviour. But fortunate enough, he didn't fit the two jigsaw puzzles together. And when the day comes when he solves the puzzle, I'll be far away from the three of them; I didn't want to be on the receiving end of his fury. His arrogant and cocky attitude was one thing but his anger was something completely different.

His temper made bees and wasps friendly.

"Rick, I never knew you were invited," I said to strike up a conversation. But what I said was true and Edward displayed how much he disliked Rick throughout the whole week.

"I wasn't," Rick had a sly smile on his face. "I'm only here to piss off Edward, and maybe have a quickie with Tanya in his bedroom. I wonder if he would like a used condom hiding under the duvet." He was serious; he really would do that.

"Rick, what're you doing here?" Edward asked, fists clenched and posture rigid. When did Edward come into the scene?

"I'm here enjoying the party," Rick replied cheekily, while taking my cup from my hand and gulping it down.

"Hey!" I mocked. "Get your own drink!"

"Can't. All the orange juice is finished. And I can't drink tonight; I plan to do something with my GIRLFRIEND." Edward snorted at the last word. "Don't believe me?" he asked Edward. "Ask Bella, she's met her."

They were both looking at me.

"I uhh…need to pee," I excused myself from the stares that bore into my back and rushed to the bathroom. I lied about the fact that I had to go but I did need a few minutes alone. My heart was beating out of my chest and I felt dizzy. There was nothing wrong with me as far as I knew but every time I saw Edward, or every time I heard him or even when I felt his presence, my heart just started throbbing and I just lost myself. There _was_ something wrong with me.

I was about to open the door to the bathroom but immediately halted when I heard the same sickening voice drone, "Screw me if I'm wrong but you want to kiss me, don't you?"

I turned around and sweetly smiled at the guy whose name I had forgotten. This was what? The seventh time he had hitted on me?

"Did you know I saved a girl's life last night?" he asked.

"No," I stated simply.

"I pulled a ten inch piece of meat out of her mouth to save her life. Can I save your life?" Eighth time.

"No."

Without glancing back, I walked to where the party was being held. But instead of continuous and annoying chatter, I was met with silence. And instead of everyone socializing and manoeuvring around in the room, the guests just stood in one place and all looked into the centre of the room.

I pushed and shoved to see what the hell was happening. But the sight shocked me. Rick on the floor with a bloody nose and Tanya towering protectively above him. But she was losing confidence as Edward was glaring at her. Did he find out?

I was about to inconspicuously leave but halted when I realized the absurdity of it all. I was an adult, and so was Tanya and Rick and why should I be cowering away from Edward? He was just my boss who compelled my heart and me to behave strangely.

But second thoughts, that glare seemed really nasty.

"You told him?!" Tanya interrogated. Once again I came to a halt. Was she addressing me? I looked up to see all three of them, and all occupants in the room staring at me.

I looked behind me to see if Tanya was addressing someone else, someone behind me, someone who wasn't me. But I was disappointed, the people behind me were looking at _me_ and not in a least bit scared or guilty as I was feeling.

"You knew?!" Edward roared. I flinched at the volume and the echoes made me flinch more.

"Oh crap," Tanya and Rick chorused.

"You fucking knew?!" Edward was glaring at me harder than he had done to Tanya and Rick.

"Uhh…I need to pee," I lamely said. I was about to retreat but was stopped by a firm, tight grip on my arm. I looked up to see Edward daringly inching closer to my face.

"You knew," he whispered in a cold and hard voice. He tightened the hold he had on me.

"Edward!" James shouted. I felt relieved when James came into the picture. "You're making a scene."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Victoria offering a pack of ice to Tanya for Rick. Tanya gently took it and pushed forcefully on Rick's nose.

_Ouch._

"I don't fucking care," Edward growled.

"You're hurting Bella," James motioned to me.

Edward let go and I felt the rush of warm air tingle the spot where Edward's cold hand used to be.

"Let's go discuss this in your room," James suggested.

I, once again, planned to be away and out of this but Edward obviously didn't get the messages I was sending.

"Uh, uh, uhh. Where are you going?" Edward raised a disapproving finger at me.

"I need to pee." Was that the third time I said that?

"Really Bella, how old are you?"

"Old enough to be aware of the consequences of wetting my pants."

"You're not wearing any."

"Why you little…" I said, my hands getting closer to Edward's neck.

"Guys! There are people watching, flirt somewhere else," James smirked. I dropped my hands and blushed furiously. "Sorry Ladies and Gentlemen. We'll be back in five minutes so continue enjoying the party! And by the way, Edward's not always like that; only when he's menstruating."

The guests chuckled at that and Edward, James, Victoria, Rick, Tanya and I headed to Edward's room. Once we entered, Edward grabbed hold of Rick's collar and began shouting at him in rage. James and Tanya tried to get Edward of him while Victoria just stood there, confused about the situation.

I just collapsed onto Edward's bed and accepted the comfort it gave me. I shut my eyes and droned out the voices that were getting louder and louder. It wasn't long before I fell asleep.

* * *

I woke up, slightly dazed that I was in the bed and not on the bed. I was sure I fell asleep on the bed. But as I got out, the cold air hit me like a ton of bricks and I was grateful to the person who put me in the bed.

I hoped Rick didn't actually put a used condom in his bed and checked twice before doing the bed to see he was just joking with me. I was about to leave the room and venture into the party but stopped when I realized I was alone in his room. Alone. I could do whatever I wanted and what I wanted to do was to snoop into his stuff and retrieve the tape.

I began looking into his drawers and cupboards, rummaging through clothes and various items. My heart was pounding because there was a chance I would get caught. I ran to his piano and searched up and down for it.

But I stopped when I realized that was the last place he would _consider_ putting it. I then moved onto the nightstand and rummaged through the items but to no avail, I couldn't find it.

I started pondering on where he could have kept it. My gaze swept across the room until it landed on the bed…

Under the bed.

I rushed to look underneath but sighed when underneath of the bed was empty. Just a blank space.

I heard a voice outside of the door and froze. My heart furiously pounded as I heard the same voice- Edward's voice. The door was slowly opening and I rolled under the bed. I just prayed he wouldn't take notice of me. I peeked up from under the bed and saw two feet moving to the other side of the room; where the piano was.

From what I heard, I came to a conclusion that Edward was sitting on the seat and was getting ready to play. I had to leave the room, even though I _wanted_ to hear him play.

I then heard him play. I closed my eyes and relaxed onto the carpet; I lost myself into the melody and sighed in astonishment. He was _that _good and the piece of music wasn't anything like I had heard before. The atmosphere was soothing and calm and I almost forgot I was under his bed. Almost forgot. For one more second, I strained my ears to drink in more of the tune but then regained my focus and slowly and quietly rolled out of the bed.

I noted Edward's eyes were closed so I was safe. As I was getting up, I heard a sharp ripping noise, but ignored it. It was probably nothing.

I glanced back at Edward, before legging it out of his room.

Phew, I made it out alive.

I didn't realize how hot it was in there; my body instantly felt the chills of the room. As I walked around, I saw more and more people looking - or more like gawking - at me for an unknown reason.

The more I walked the more bored and desperate for company I got. I thought about the fun Rosalie and her friends and family would have had at her hen night.

I spotted Victoria's flaming red hair and made my way towards her but felt a clammy hand on my shoulder. Eww.

"Hi, the voices in my head told me to come over and talk to you." It was him again, the guy whose name I had forgotten. When will he give up?

"If the voices in your head told you that, I suggest you get help," I said rudely.

"Come on baby, don't be like that. Did you know I'm great swimmer? Do you want me to demonstrate the breast stroke?"

I shrugged my shoulder so his hand stopped having contact with me.

"Nice legs, what time do they open?"

I then lost control; I slapped him.

"You bitch!" he shouted, clutching his right cheek which was noticeably red. I saw his fists, opening and closing. "You think you're all innocent and all that shit but you're nothing but a ho! A whore! Look at your dress- my mistake, look at your scarf. It barely covers those boobs of yours!"

I looked down and shockingly enough, my breasts weren't covered, or supported like it had been hours ago. It was now saggy and gravity obviously won. I tried to look behind me and saw my dress was nearly fully ripped. I blushed. I tried to cover myself with my hands. How come I hadn't noticed or felt this before?!

"Oh…so now she covers herself. A bit late for that, slut!" My eyes started watering but I remained to stand strong, I had never cried where people could see me break down and I wasn't going to let them see.

"Shut up, asshole!" I whispered, hot under my breath.

"What was that?!" His icy blue eyes because icier and more cold.

"ASSHOLE!" I screamed at him.

"You're gonna regret saying that…" His fist rose and I noticed he was going to take a swing at me. I closed my eyes, waiting for the impact, but the swing never came. I opened my eyes, hesitantly at first but sighed in relief when Edward was standing sideways between us, his large hand preventing the other guy's hand to take a blow at me.

"You're my guest," Edward spoke to the other guy in a deadly and low voice. "But that gives you no right to treat a woman like that. Especially _my_ woman."

My heart leapt up in joy and I felt a smile tugging at my lips. Edward let go of the other guy's hand and Edward pulled me up to him and dragged me to his bedroom. I looked back to see that guy gone and other people looking shocked behind our retreating forms. Apparently, I was just as shocked as them.

As soon as we entered the bedroom, Edward attacked my lips. I gave in to the passionate lip lock we were in and felt the electricity around us sizzle. I pulled him closer and tugged on his hair, I wrapped my finger against his silky locks and I also gave his tongue access. He began tasting me and he felt so warm and sweet in my mouth, like candy but better. Much better.

But the more passionate it got the more we had to gasp for air.

We stopped suddenly, the awkward situation registering in my mind.

"Wow," Edward commented.

"Wow," I agreed.

I walked up to his cupboard, opened the door and got a black cotton shirt out. I knew Edward was in the same room as me and I knew he was staring at me but that didn't stop me from changing. I took off my dress or what was left of it and put on Edward's shirt. I took a big whiff; it smelt like him. I let the lower side of the shirt fall and I noticed it reached to mid thigh, same size as the dress.

Was I tiny compared to Edward?

I rushed to the bed and got in. I was sleeping here tonight, with Edward. I felt him getting in and he pulled me closer.

"You look mouth watering in my clothes," he said huskily.

"Good," I joked. "Because I've got nothing else to wear." I tightened my hold onto him and went over the make out session we had.

And the electricity was still sizzling in the air and my heart was still beating out of its cage.

But then reality gripped me and the man I was lying with was my boss! My heart kept its tempo but I loosened my hold onto Edward.

"Forget I'm your employer, relax, I won't hurt you," Edward cooed. I did as I was told and fell asleep in Edward's embrace.


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns twilight, not me.**

**A/N: Sorry about the late update; I HAD to get this perfect. And by the way, this is the second last chapter! This story is nearly completed. Just one more chapter to go...**

"Weddings, full of over-emotional women," Edward muttered beside me.

"Pardon?" I asked, insulted. The comment wasn't the only thing that insulted me but Edward in general. I had been waiting for him to say something about last night and this morning. But he didn't say anything; it was like it didn't happen.

"Oh come on Bella, this isn't a funeral."

"Women tend to cry in joy at weddings," I pointed out, even though I knew very little of the subject.

"Either that or heartbreak," he whispered, pointing casually – we were sitting far back - to one of the bridesmaid's who was dramatically blowing her nose.

"That's the Groom's cousin."

"That's disgusting!" A few unfamiliar heads turned around. I rolled my eyes at Edward and smiled meekly to the heads. They turned back to face the altar.

"Should there be anyone who has cause why this couple should not be united in marriage, they must speak now or forever hold their peace," the minister calmly said. I smiled when I saw both Emmett and Rosalie nervously looking around the room, they both relaxed when they were met with silence. But it was cut with a kitchen knife:

"I object!" I slapped the back of Edward's head. "Oww!" he whispered, glaring at me. "What's your problem?"

People all over gasped. Emmett and Rosalie frantically hunted for the source. And I swore I saw Rosalie's dad, Mr. Hale relax and smile. The minister looked like he was going to have a heart attack.

"We aren't at court!" I explained. "You can't object whenever you damn feel like it."

"Loosen up, Bella, we might be having our fun while the bride and groom are having theirs," he winked at me.

"When it's your own wedding, I'll make damn sure to ruin it," I said in my 'scary voice'.

"Bella, why would you do that to your own wedding?"

I glared at him before smiling sweetly and looking forward.

"There is no objection!" I shouted. I saw Rosalie smile at me. People calmed down and the minister proceeded.

"Emmett McCarty, do you take Rosalie Hale to be your wife?" Emmett as usual was looking his best in his expensive tuxedo.

_But Edward looks so much better in his_, my mind concluded. _Stop it!_

Rosalie, if possible, looked like she was glowing. Her blonde locks were tied up in a bun with a few strands 'flowing' out. She wore a beautiful, strapless bridal gown and her veil flowed with her when she walked down the aisle.

"I do," Emmett's voice boomed. I stifled a giggle when the minister winced at Emmett's volume.

"And do you Rosalie Hale, take Emmett McCarty to be your husband?"

"I do," Rosalie's melodious voice rang out.

"What's your favourite colour?" Edward unexpectedly asked me. I faced him and gave him a look of annoyance.

"A wedding ceremony is going on!" I hissed.

"Just answer the damn question!" he hissed back. I ignored him. "If you're going to play like that…" He tapped on a woman's shoulder who sat in front of us and whispered loud enough for the entire two rows to hear, "This is boring, don't you agree?" I noticed a few heads turning.

"No." She clearly seemed uninterested and annoyed.

"Oh. Know the bride?" he asked, ignoring her reply.

"No."

"Know the groom?"

"No." _Did she crash the wedding?_ Maybe she came with someone.

"Great, no-one will miss us for a couple of minutes." More heads turned.

"I'm not a whore!" She seemed deeply offended.

"Honey, do you think I'm a cheapskate?" More and more heads turned.

"How dare you!"

"I'm very daring, thanks for noticing."

"Hey! What's going on?!" the guy next to the pissed woman asked. "Why are you bothering my wife?"

"Sir, is this your wife?" The man nodded. "Please control her, she has been hitting on me. Does she not see we are at a wedding?"

The woman gasped. "Don't listen to him Ronnie. The guy seriously has issues." They both turned around and so did the others.

I heard Edward relax into his seat and snort. "What kind of a name is 'Ronnie'?"

"What kind of a name is 'Edward'?"

"A classic and mind-blowing name."

"Don't you think you're being biased?"

"I'm straight-assed, you of all people should know that. And you didn't answer my question."

"Why should I?"

"Because I want to know."

"Black," I replied, cheering inside when I didn't say 'green'.

"Why?" He was honestly confused.

"Black because it'll go with your funeral."

"Ha ha."

"What's yours?"

"I have a combination."

"Of?" I pushed.

"Let's see. Mahogany, chocolate brown, baby pink, blood red and the creamy colour of milk."

"I think you're hungry," I stated.

"Will you let me eat you then?" I ignored the sexual innuendo and looked ahead where Rosalie and Emmett first kissed as a wedded couple.

Spontaneous applause and a few hoots thundered and I blushed at the still on-going kiss that Rosalie and Emmett both participated in.

"_We might be having our fun while the bride and groom are having theirs."_

How half of that statement sounded true, I didn't know but I did want to know when Edward was going to bring up last night. And how he was going to.

* * *

"Try the cake," I suggested to Edward. "It's the 'creamy colour of milk'."

He took a bite and sighed. "This is _good_."

"I know, right?" I smiled at him before digging into my own piece of cake. I could just lick the plate clean…After I was done of course.

There was silence, not in the hall but between me and Edward. _How long will it take for him to say something?_ I thought.

Come on.

Come on.

"Last night-" yes! "-what did you think about it?" he asked after licking his pale pink lips clean.

"I enjoyed it, especially the company," I complimented. Edward raised his eyebrows and looked slightly agitated.

Did he not like last night? Typical! You show a man anything to do with emotions and they drop you like you're hot!

And the worse thing was he's always – or most of the time – leading me on with his pick-up-lines and when I do something with him, like share a bed, he gets all pissed!

And that wasn't the first time we shared a bed!

Asshole!

Mother fuck-

"Did you enjoy nearly getting punched by that twat?"

"What?" I asked, confused. Wasn't he referring to the 'sleep-over'?

"That guy who nearly laid a hand on you," he growled out. Oh. Oh! But then I turned disappointed again because he wasn't talking about the 'sleep-over' but the party.

"I wasn't talking about that," I claimed. His eyebrows went even further up. How did he do that?!

"Well what were you talking about?" he asked. Could I say the truth? Or just lie about it?

But then looking back, if I said the truth, there would be a slight chance he would be fine. Or even happy about it. I mean, there had to be some reason he continuously hit on me. So I decided to go for the truth.

"Well, I was thinking and talking 'bout last n-"

But I stopped right there. Not because I just didn't have the guts to be honest or because Edward stopped my speech.

It was because of my ex-boyfriend. He was here, in a nice suit, leading an also familiar face in my direction.

I forgot he was going to be here! Where was he in the wedding?! I didn't see him, or Leah Clearwater, the person he was with. What was Leah Clearwater doing with him?

"Bella, are you okay?" Edward interrupted the runaway train that was racing on the tracks in my brain.

"I'm okay," I replied in a feeble tone, my gaze still on Jacob and Leah Clearwater.

_Wait, what was I afraid of? _

I have been over Jacob for a long time, and I still don't even like him!

_What was wrong with me?! _

This wasn't the first time I had seen him after moving to New York.

So why did I feel odd?

The strange, bubbly feeling in me felt like having new friends around but the old ones never left your mind. You would suck them up, every detail- even the little ones.

Maybe it was because I missed Forks. Jacob and Leah weren't from Forks but in a way, it was their home too. And even the rainiest and coldest place could warm your heart.

By now, Jacob and Leah were only a few seconds away from me.

I cursed myself; I could have escaped. It wasn't too late. The toilet excuse still works…

"Bella!"

It was now too late. I stood up and planted a smile – fake of course – onto my face.

"Hi," I whispered. I didn't want to be heard in case my voice trembled. "Edward, this is Leah Clearwater," I introduced, as quiet as possible, but they all heard me.

"Leah _Black_," she corrected. She had a smug grin on her face and her dark eyes shone in triumph.

My mind twirled.

"You married Billy? I never knew you went for older men," I said civilly to Leah Clearwater- I mean Black.

She rolled her eyes, "I married Jacob."

I slapped myself mentally for my stupidity.

"Our two year anniversary is coming up next month," she smirked.

"Congratulations!" I boomed in an Emmett-like voice. Leah's face fell. And so did Jacob's.

_Ha bitch! I don't get jealous!_

"Oh. Well, we'll be on our way now," she said, her face still in a frown. Leah and Jacob exited the hall and I sat down, the weird and unfamiliar feeling gone.

But the feeling Edward gives me was still there._ It's always there_, I thought.

"You handled that quite well. Normally people react completely different from that. How did you manage to keep a cool head?" Edward asked.

"I don't get jealous," I replied.

"Everyone gets jealous," he argued.

"Not me."

"That's impossible."

"It's a generic trait."

"I don't believe that."

"I'm not forcing you to."

"Are you tired?" he asked me.

"Yes," I replied honestly. Funny how I was fine a few moments ago and now I'm completely knackered.

"I'll be back soon, stay here," he ordered in a friendly tone. He gave me a stunning smile, got up, and left the table.

And a few minutes after him leaving, my heart was still pounding in my chest from that smile.

* * *

Twenty minutes after and there was still no sign of him. I got up and went looking for him.

_Did he leave without me? _

I've been such a fool! How was I supposed to get home now?!

No one would offer a stranger to ride with them and I couldn't disturb Emmett and Rosalie; it was their wedding day.

"_I can't believe he asked her to dance with him!" _I concentrated on the high voice. _"I mean- did you see him?! And the way he moves…"_

I looked over to the dance floor to see couples everywhere. I saw Rosalie and Emmett, Rosalie's mom dancing with someone but there was no sign of Mr. Hale. I was about to turn back when I saw the familiar bronze hair sweeping the dance floor. He moved with such poise and ease it looked like he was gliding on the floor.

After admiring his movements, I finally noticed the blonde who was attached to him. My breath was stuck in my throat and I felt my heart being squashed to the ground and people trampling their feet onto it. I suddenly felt woozy and no matter how disorientated I felt I was, my gaze was still on them.

They moved in perfect formation, like they had practiced a thousand times.

I needed to sit, before I collapsed. And I needed to go back to the table, before Edward noticed me standing there like a fool.

Wait, since when did I care what Edward thought of me?

And why did my heart feel dead after all the trampling?

I managed to get back to my table in one piece and collapsed onto the chair. What I didn't see was Mr. Hale sitting on my table, sipping a drink and staring at me.

"Hello Mr. Hale," I said politely.

"Hello dear," he rumbled.

"How did you like the wedding?" I asked.

But instead of replying to my question, he leaned in closer and asked, "Having relationship problems?"

"What?"

"The tall guy you were with, the redhead."

"He's got bronze hair and we're not going out," I mumbled.

"Then why are you jealous over the fact that he's dancing with someone that's not you?"

"I'm not jealous."

I mean, how could I be jealous? I never get jealous. It was something I inherited! And why would I be jealous over Edward dancing with someone else? I don't give two shits about him!

"You do care about him honey, I see it in your eyes," he said calmly. I blushed when I realised I said my rant out loud. Loud enough for the neighbouring tables to hear. I looked over to see the woman Edward annoyed at the wedding staring at me. I waved at her but she just turned around. Bitch.

"Anyway, what do you think of Emmett?" Mr. Hale asked. But there was something in his eyes (the same eyes as Rosalie's) that made me think carefully before answering.

"I think he's a fantastic guy," I replied.

"I don't- he stole my baby girl," he growled.

"Baby girl? She can kick Emmett's ass from here to Mars," I joked.

"That's my baby girl," he praised. "Maybe…I should give Emmett a try. It's not his fault he ripped my favourite slacks."

"Pardon?" I asked, obviously confused on what he meant by that.

"The other day Emmett spilt orange juice on his trousers-" I rolled my eyes "- at my home and he had to wear my slacks. Things were going fine until the ice-cream van came along. If he didn't chase the van, fall over a kid, my slacks wouldn't have ripped."

"Emmett's a big guy."

"I knew that after he ripped my slacks and gave the whole street a show of his…"

There was awkward silence but that was cut by Edward appearing.

"Hello Bella, hope you didn't have to wait long." He sat down and made himself comfortable. "Do you want to dance?" he asked me. _If he wanted to dance, why wasn't he standing? _

"Sorry, Edward, I can't dance," I casually replied.

"It's all in the leading," he persuaded.

"Then obviously you've never danced with me."

"Bella, what's wrong?" If I wasn't mistaken, he looked upset and worried.

"Nothing. Mr. Hale was just telling a story about Emmett, the groom."

"Anybody say my name?" Emmett boomed while approaching. He smiled at me and Mr. Hale but froze when he saw Edward. Instantly his face paled but then turned red. Blood red.

"You!" Emmett growled. His fists clenched and he accusingly stared at Edward.

Edward looked at him for one moment and then yawned.

"How dare you come here?!"

I had to give it to Edward- he didn't even look scared. He didn't even wince! If I was in his position, I would piss my pants.

"Emmett, what's wrong?" Rosalie came running to Emmett's side. She looked at me and I shrugged my shoulders.

"Rosie. Don't you remember? He was the one who hitted on you." He jerked his hand in Edward's direction.

Realization dawned on Rosalie. And on me too.

"_Yeah, there was a fight and he got kicked out. Him and the fit blonde."_

"_The new guy approached the blonde who I think was the big guy's girl and flirted with her. The big guy got angry and punched him. The new guy started fighting him and it wasn't long before his mates got involved. We sent the big guy and blonde out. The new guy left shortly after but his mates stayed."_

Edward was the guy who hitted on Rosalie. Why? Now Emmett won't let him go.

Emmett advanced closer to Edward.

"I. Told. You-" Emmett began.

"Do I know you?" Edward interrupted.

Several things happened after that. One, Emmett lunged at Edward. Two, Emmett and Edward had everybody's undivided attention. Three, Rosalie started to sob. Four, Mr. Hale looked like he was going to have a stroke. Five, I got pushed by both Emmett and Edward so I fell into an old man's lap.

And six, Emmett and Edward wrestled on the floor, creating chaos and destruction around the hall.

It took five men to separate Emmett and Edward. And when they did, the surprising part was that instead of horrific bruises or dishevelled clothes, they only had broken lips. And dishevelled hair.

Rosalie yanked Emmett to her side. I did the same to Edward. I said congratulations and my apologies to Rosalie and Emmett and left with Edward.

* * *

"Oww," he hissed as I dabbed the ice pack on his lip.

"Stay still," I instructed as he jiggled on his bed.

We were in his apartment, in his room more specifically.

"Did you have to fight Emmett?" I said in an irritated voice. "We could have left before anything started, and you didn't have to piss him off."

"He's an adult, he's married, he shouldn't be attacking any guest of his," he hissed.

I added more pressure onto his lip and he glared at me.

"Anyway, I don't need you to baby me. I can look after myself very well. I'm alive aren't I?" he venomously asked.

"I'm not babying you. I'm helping you," I reasoned.

"Why?" he asked.

That put me off guard.

_Why?_

"I don't know," I replied.

"That's rich," he chuckled darkly. "Normally you can't wait to get away from me. I'm not testing you or anything. And this won't help you get your tape back; there are more tasks to do. What shall I make you do next? I dunno…how about you stay over?"

That triggered a reaction from me. I had been waiting all day for him to say something, anything about the topic. And he had started.

"Instead of sleeping, why don't we do something more physical?" he said, not asked, and began inching closer towards me.

"Edward," I warned.

"I know you want me, Bella," he cooed.

"Edward."

"Bella," he mimicked.

"You know what?" I asked, chucking the ice pack at him. "I'm leaving. And I'm going to see you on Monday. Enjoy the reminder of your weekend, _Sir_."

I dashed out of his apartment building and ran all the way home- I actually caught a taxi but it sounded dramatic, didn't it?


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns twilight, not me. And I don't own _Love Story_ or _My Life Would Suck Without You_.**

**A/N: This is the end! I can't believe it either. Love you all and please don't delete this story from your alerts list since I'm going to add stuff (good stuff) for you guys in another update. Questions can be asked now and answered in the next update. I will answer them! Enjoy!**

* * *

I exhaled sharply as I entered the apartment. _Love Story _could be heard throughout the whole apartment, and before I knew it, I began mouthing the words.

I carefully walked to the small kitchen, grabbed a glass and poured tap water into it. I took a small sip and leaned against the counter.

'_Romeo take me somewhere we can be alone_

_ I'll be waiting; all there's left to do is run_

_ You'll be the Prince and I'll be the Princess_

_ It's a love story baby just say yes'._

I wondered what Edward was doing. Was he playing his piano or off in some bar trying to get some action. No! He wouldn't do the latte; he's a high earning lawyer and earns respect from others in his world. Maybe, but he did hit on Rosalie. Obviously Edward would hit on Rosalie. If I was guy, I would do the same. But I wasn't a guy and Edward isn't a gentleman. He could be, if you gave him the time-

Gah!

Edward wasn't physically here but why was he metaphorically in my head?! It made no sense. When he was around, I didn't want him to be and when he wasn't, he drove me insane without even knowing it!

I could just mess up that pretty face of his!

'_Romeo take me somewhere we can be alone_

_ I'll be waiting; all there's left to do is run_

_ You'll be the Prince and I'll be the Princess_

_ It's a love story baby just say yes'._

Calm down, Bella. No use proving you're a nut case by pulling strands of your hair and stomping your feet childishly for no reason. Edward's not here. Edward's not here. I began chanting my mantra, trying to get into my thick head that _Edward's not here_.

_Awww! But I want him to be!_

I cancelled out the last piece of information and took deep breaths. What was wrong with me?

'_This love is difficult, but it's real_

_ Don't be afraid, we'll make it out of this mess'._

I hoped I got out of this mess. I slammed the glass down and began stumbling over to my bedroom. But I hastily stopped on my tracks when I realised no-one could be in this apartment apart from me. But someone was and right now they were blasting music. I grabbed the closest object- which happened to be an empty suitcase- and held it protectively in front of me. I crept in the direction from where the music came from and halted when I stood directly in front of Alice's door.

_I wish Edward was here to protect me. _Shut it, you! There's probably a burglar behind the door and we don't need an easy distraction. Oh god, I was talking to myself! What next?!

I twisted the handle and pushed the door slightly open. I quietly lifted one leg up and with all my strength, I kicked the door open and charged inside.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Yes! I did it! I lifted the suitcase above my head but before I could register what was going on, I stumbled over something. "Oof!" Oh, why did I have to jinx myself?! Now I was going to die. I didn't even say a proper goodbye to Alice and Jasper and Charlie and Renee and Phil and Edward.

_Edward._

He's probably going to have a great life with a wife- if he commits- and beautiful children and a cute dog and a much better secretary than I ever was! And a beautiful one at that.

And here I was, with no husband or boyfriend, no children, no fantastic job and nothing to shout about either, about to die.

I looked up, just to see my killer, and blanked when I saw Alice with a hand on her mouth.

"If you needed help with the suitcase, you could have asked!"

She began giggling while I jumped up. What was Alice doing here? Alice managed to stop to hug me. We let go after a few seconds and then she bounced up and down like the crazy pixie she was. Ah, how I missed her.

"Jasper proposed!" she squealed.

"Congratulations!" We both began bouncing up and down. "You go, girl!"

"Trust me, it was all Edward." I stopped in mid-jump and raised both eyebrows.

No! It couldn't be. Could it? I mean, as far as I knew, Alice and Jasper didn't know Edward. And they couldn't have met him in Paris because- duh!- Edward hadn't left the country. So, it must be another Edward. I wondered if he was as good looking as my Edward. Whoa, he's not my Edward. He's his wife's Edward. _But he doesn't have a wife._ Yet.

"Uhh, Edward?" I quickly relaxed my brows when I remembered raising eyebrows was Edward's thing.

"Don't play dumb! We know all about you and Edward, you naughty secretary!" Alice giggled. My mind once again blanked. How in hell did she know?! And me and Edward?! She seriously got her facts wrong.

"Alice are you okay? You didn't take anything from strangers did you?"

"Bella, you banana! No, I did not take anything from strangers. And you know I can catch out your lies. So why must you do it? I know you love Edward!" she squealed.

"W-w-what? That is r-ridiculous." I can't and don't love Edward. Don't I?

"You're blushing!" I hated it when people said I was blushing. I _knew_ when I was blushing and I didn't need people to tell me. Even though Alice was my best friend, I still hated it. "Oh calm your panties!"

"I do not love Edward!"

"Keep saying that, Bella. But you and I both know that's not true."

"What's there to love? What has he done except from annoying me or picking me up that I should love?"

"There's plenty things!"

"Like what?"

"Has he ever made you feel special, or even beautiful, which you are anyway?" I rolled my eyes, it was so typical of her to lift my spirits. Bless her.

"No," I replied nonchalantly.

"Come on, Bella! You're not even trying!"

"O.k. o.k., I'll give it a go!"

I went back to the first time we met. I remembered him grinning like he won the lottery when he first saw me and I chuckled at the pick-up lines he chucked at me.

"_I don't employ thieves."_

"_What __**did**__ I steal?"_

"_My heart."_

Like the other lines, they did, in a way, make me feel special and beautiful.

"Next," I ordered. Alice smirked, knowing very well she was winning in our argument.

"Have you ever seen him behave in a way you like? Like he was a good guy or was every girl's dream?"

I didn't bother to contradict Alice; Edward in appearance was every girl's dream. I remembered us playing twenty questions and me seeing his compassionate and decent side. And when I lied about my virginity and Grandma Marie's death- her death was true though- he comforted me even though I was just trying to get him to stop with his lines!

"Next!"

"Has he ever done anything crazy just to get something from you or to prove something to you?"

Obviously. The time when he fainted at the office and faked his death for a few minutes with the help of his buddy Aro was insane. And he did all that just to blackmail me into doing those tasks for him. Oh! Those tasks were insane as well. Just remembering the pregnant wife task…

"Next!"

"Did he show you his family and friends?"

"Yes, next!" I grumbled. How the hell did she know all this?

"Any weird, animalistic behaviour?"

I went back to the time when I was staying with Edward's family in Chicago. He did in fact act animalistic when I went through extreme lengths just for him to get off me. Not to mention he also bit me.

"Next!"

"Any signs of jealousy from him?"

There was once a time when I mentioned Emmett's name without him knowing he was a friend and there was also a time when…he asked about Jacob. There was something in his eyes and he seemed to be in pain.

"Next," I said more gently.

"Has Edward ever done anything stupid or risked his life just to save you?"

Well, there was a time when I nearly got clawed by a bear but Edward knocked me out of the way. And he did stop me from getting punched by a creep at his party.

"Next."

"Have _you _ever gotten worried or upset over him?"

Obviously when he 'died' and a little bit over the black eye he received from Emmett from the first time they fought.

"Next."

"Have you ever said or did something to upset him?"

To be honest, there was once when I practically insulted him by questioning his intelligence. But anyone would have reacted like that.

"Next."

"Ever fantasized of Edward with you?"

_Yes. _One time when we were both on his bed after his prank and another as I thought of him as the father of my non-existent children.

"Next."

"Don't you see, Bella? You. Love. Edward. Just because he annoys you doesn't mean he's always annoying you. And to other people, he might not even seem to be annoying. I think he just wants your attention- wait, I just _know_ it."

"You're not proving anything major, Alice."

"Aren't I? Let's see…he make you feel special and beautiful; he has shown you his nicer and more likable side; he's done crazy things for _you_; you know his family and friends and that shows he's serious; you've seen his wild side which you caused; you've made him jealous; he has risked his life for _you_; you got worried and upset over him which shows you care; you made him briefly upset which means you mean to him; you dreamed of Edward and you together, so you're secretly hoping for a chance.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say _he_ loves _you_ and _you _love _him_."

It took a while to process all that information. But I found a loophole, something that made me and will make Alice feel numb.

"You're wrong, Alice. Edward loves somebody else," I could hear the dejected tone in my voice.

"Bullshit! If he didn't love you, then why else would he phone me- a stranger- and personally sort out mine and Jasper's relationship? And why else would he ask about you and talk about you, constantly? Well, I guess I was wrong because Edward does that TO EVERYBODY IN THE WORLD!" I flinched at Alice's volume. "Trust me Bella."

It was quiet and I could hear _My Life Would Suck Without You _playing.

'_I'm in love with someone else'._

'_An angel. She makes my heart flutter like a butterfly's wings, she makes my palms sweat and she's the sole purpose I'm still living- not literally of course. I'd kill for her and I'd throw myself in the hands of death if that would save her'._

'_The way she fits perfectly with me like a completed jigsaw puzzle'._

'_She loves me, she's just oblivious to the fact'._

'_You don't know her'._

'_When you see her, you'll know'._

Realization dawned upon me. How could I have been so stupid?! He saved me from the clutches of a hungry bear and a creep. We fit together; our hands, our bodies. I didn't realize I loved Edward before and _now I do_. I didn't know her because I didn't know myself; if I knew how much I could have loved someone romantically I wouldn't have needed Edward hitting on me for me to get a clue. And I have seen her, with Alice's help.

I hugged Alice, nearly squashing the sly pixie in the process while I shouted, "Thank you!" at the top of my lungs.

"Before you leave, Edward only danced with her to get a reaction from you. It worked, honey, you are capable of jealously! Congrats!"

"How did you-"

"I wasn't lying when I said Edward talked about you. Now go and thank me in more detail later!"

"Where to?"

"Oh you silly girl! Edward's of course." She pushed me to the door. "Don't forget, twenty shopping trips as a reward. Bye!"

* * *

I glanced nervously, looking at nothing in particular. I was face-to-face with Edward's front door and I raised my fist to knock. But halted when I realized he had a bell.

_Stupid!_

I rang the bell.

_Here goes nothing._

The door slowly opened and I closed my eyes, calming myself down. Trusting Edward to catch me, I jumped into his arms. I felt myself grinning and opened my eyes. But instead of green eyes meeting mine, I met ocean blue eyes. And they seemed surprised.

Aro.

I heard a slam and sharply turned my head to the direction of where it came from. _Edward. _Oh shit! He must have seen me and Aro. I must have looked horrified, as Aro gently put me down. I ran to Edward's bedroom door and knocked continuously with both hands. My fists were becoming sore and tired from the knocking but I didn't give up, I wouldn't give up. Not without a fight first.

"Edward! Hear me out! It's not what it looks like! I thought Aro was you!" I knew Edward could hear me but as soon as the piano was being played, I knew I had no chance in getting a message across. I stopped slamming on the door to get an idea and again, I sharply turned my head when I heard a screeching noise. I saw Aro, pulling a chair and sitting on it while watching me and eating popcorn.

_What an asshole. _

The music stopped. "I love you Edward! I'm so sorry-" I didn't get to finish; he began playing again. A tear rolled down my cheek. I didn't realize my eyes were watery. Another tear escaped. I could hear Aro chuckling and I stormed over to him. I grabbed his collar and in my most menacing voice I growled out, "You tell Edward I'll be waiting for him." I released his collar and stormed out of the building. As I was waiting for a cab, I could feel stares boring into my back but I felt a tinglier one which only lasted a few seconds.

* * *

''_Cause we belong together now, yeah  
Forever united here somehow, yeah  
You got a piece of me, and honestly  
My life would suck without you  
'Cause we belong together now, yeah  
Forever united here somehow, yeah  
You got a piece of me, and honestly  
My life would suck without you'._

I sang the familiar words out of boredom and also from hope. He would come, he had to. _We belong together._

I looked down and appreciated the view, it was beautiful. The sky was beginning to darken and I could see lights shining from nearly every aspect. I could see for miles and wondered if I would be able to see Edward approaching. I was standing on the building I worked in's terrace. And I was on the edge. My hair was flying due to the wind and it seemed much colder up here. I forgot I was still in a dress that I wore to Rosalie's wedding.

I heard the door opening and I smiled to myself. He finally came. But what I wasn't prepared for was to hear heels clicking against the floor. I frowned and wondered who it was. Just as I was about to turn around, I was roughly grabbed by the arm and I was swung to meet Leah Clearwater- I mean Black. Confusion swept my face. What was she doing here?

Almost as if she was reading my thoughts, she barked out a laugh. It was cold and cruel, just like her.

"Isabella. Sabella. Abella. Bella. Ella. La," she hissed. She tightened the grip she had on my arm and smirked victoriously.

"Let go of me!" I shrieked. Now this was just getting creepy and scary. Was she drunk? When James kidnapped me or when that creep was about to sock me, I didn't feel as much fear as I felt now. Because I knew now I was about to die. I knew I had a chance to escape from James and I did, and I also knew a punch wouldn't kill me. But here I was, on the edge of a terrace and currently being mauled by a psycho!

_Edward, where are you? _

"No," she hissed, her eyes narrowing. From what? I couldn't tell.

"You're hurting me," I tried to get rid of the dangerous gleam that was in her eyes.

"I don't care, bitch!" she hissed harshly.

"What did I ever do to you?!"

"You stole my husband. Do you know what it's like to hear your man talk about another woman constantly? Well do you, bitch?" she tugged on my hair.

"I didn't steal Jacob from you!" I contradicted.

"Don't you dare say his name! You don't deserve to!"

"I don't care about that! I didn't steal Jacob from you. You stole him from me!"

She released my arm but strangled my neck. "What do you mean by that?" She tilted her head to one side and her near black eyes seemed empty but full at the same time. Empty of love and happiness, but full of hatred that was directed at me.

"I was dating Jacob first. He told me on Valentine's Day…that he found someone else and…left me. And that…person was…you." I was losing my air supply and began clawing her hands off my neck. But she suddenly let go. I inhaled precious oxygen and tried to calm my erratic heart down.

I looked into Leah's face and she looked sick. Like someone kicked her in the gut. I almost felt pity for her. _Almost._

But the vulnerability was gone as soon as it appeared, and her face was emotionless. Her stance was too.

"But that gave you no right to take him back."

With that last statement, I was pushed.

I felt myself defying cold air and heard whooshes as I traveled down. I could hear screams and knew my death was approaching.

_I love you Edward._

I closed my eyes and awaited death. I thought I was going to die a few hours earlier but I escaped. Yet here I was.

The screams sounded louder and I could hear cars honking and crashing into each other. The ground was swiftly approaching.

_I love you Edward._

I shrieked as I fell into something hard. Was there a hole in the ground because my knee and shoulders came into contact with the hardness while the rest of my body was hanging. I heard, more clearly, whistles, claps and hoots erupt from around.

Did angels make this noise whenever someone entered Heaven? Huh, I thought me falling off a building would be painful. But I hardly felt any. I must have died from shock or fear. I slowly opened my eyes, not wanting to get blinded by the bright lights of Heaven, and blanked when I saw Edward's anxious and beautiful face from above me. Oh, no! What happened to Edward?

I saw his face turn to pain and I grimaced. I raised my hand and stroked his face. "When did this happen, Edward? How did you die?" As soon as the last word got out, Edward broke into his signature crooked smile.

"I'm not dead, Bella. And neither are you." My eyes widened in shock. Was he telling the truth? Did I not die? Did I survive? But _how_? Edward gently dropped me and I realized I fell into Edward's arms. I didn't die!

I jumped on Edward and smothered him with light kisses. "I love you."

"I love you, too. Now tell me why you jumped. Didn't you have faith in me?" His voice hardened.

"I was pushed," I blurted. Edward released me, but this time it was because of shock and his mouth was pressed into a tight line.

"By whom?" he growled.

I shook my head. Even though Leah was a bitch and accused me of stealing Jacob from her, I could understand her motives. I mean, if someone tried to steal Edward from me, I don't know what I would do.

"Tell me." When there was no reply he gritted his teeth. "Bella!"

"I'm sorr-" I was interrupted by sirens. I stood- amazed- while ambulances and the Police zoomed in and began doing their job. An officer approached us and Edward said something about 'sweeping the whole building'. I didn't understand what he meant and as I was about to ask, I was surrounded by medics who began checking me.

I was released twenty minutes later after stating the obvious- that I was fine. Edward was leaning against a silver Volvo, grinning quite cheerfully, when I approached him. He jerked his head in the direction of Leah Black who was being numerously asked questions.

"What will happen to her?" I asked.

"You're suing her and she'll go to prison. God knows for how long," he replied calmly.

"Edward, you can't!"

"She tried to kill you!"

"Because she thought I was taking a loved one away. _Please_, Edward. If someone was taking you away, I don't know what I would do."

"I'll try, okay? But if she is pledged guilty, I can't do anything."

"Thank you Edward!" I covered the distance between us and held onto him tightly. I could feel his chest rumble as he chuckled. I let go and looked up.

"I love you. Have I said that before?" I grinned.

"Yes but I won't get tired from hearing it." He leaned down and gently he pressed his lips down to mine. I leaned in closer to him and wrapped my arms around his neck. My hands played with strands of his silky hair and he tilted his head to deepen the kiss. His arms held my hips securely in place and his tongue begged for entrance which I granted. His tongue swept through my mouth and then I felt him massaging my own tongue. We parted, trying to catch our breaths and I didn't miss that his arms were still around me and that my arms were around his neck. The butterflies were still fluttering in my stomach and electricity cackled all around us.

"Let's get out of here. What do you say?" he asked. His green eyes dancing in pure bliss.

"Sure. Why not?" I agreed. He opened the door of the Volvo and motioned for me to enter. I gaped at him. "This is your car?" He winked at me. I got in and he shut the door. He jogged to the other side and almost leaped in.

He started the car and the engine purred. "Relax." He told me. I leaned back and watched him maneuver the car.

"Where are we going?" I heard myself speak over the fierce pounding of my heart.

"For a ride," Edward glanced at me and winked once again. "We need to talk, about us."

"What do you want to talk about?"

"Where do we go from here? Do we just say 'I love you' and return back to our lives as if it never happened?"

"No," I protested. "I want to be with you."

Edward chuckled, "I _will_ be with you."

"Good. But what 'bout our jobs? You're my boss."

"And the more time I'll be able to spend with you."

"But won't people care? Won't it get us in trouble?"

"No. And if they do, I'll quit my job. I'll go wherever you go. You are my life, Bella, you have been ever since I laid my eyes on you." I blushed. "Do you know what I meant about my combination of favourite colours? Mahogany is the colour of your hair; chocolate brown is the colour of your eyes; baby pink is the colour of your lips; blood red is the colour of your beautiful blush; the creamy colour of milk is your skin colour."

"Wow," I gasped, clearly stunned.

"Wow indeed." His orbs saw right through me and I felt a chill down my spine. A good chill.

"Are you still going to hit on me?" I asked.

"Depends on if you want it or not."

"I want it, alright?" He raised an eyebrow. "Now that I know why you do it, it seems more…"

"Ever since I met you, you've lived in my heart without paying any rent," Edward spoke, his velvety voice honest.

"Cupid called. He says to tell you that he needs my heart back," I replied. His hand intertwined with mine.

"I dropped a tear in the ocean, the day I find it is the day I'll stop loving you."

"It's not my fault I fell in love, you're the one who tripped me!"

"My love for you is like diarrhoea ... I can't hold it in." I snorted at that one. "Your lines do rival mine. I'm proud."

"Thank you. Oh! Edward, do you remember the tape you recorded of me?"

"Yes, I do. What about it?"

"Can I have it back?" He began chuckling. "What?"

"It's behind my seat, in the pouch." I released my hand from his and searched for it in the pouch. I found something and brought it up. It was the tape recorder. "Look inside." I opened it and realised there was no tape inside.

"There's nothing inside," I informed.

"I know," he chuckled.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Silly Bella. I didn't tape you that day. At all. I only said I did, I didn't actually prove I did."

I placed the recorder at the side of the door and playfully punched Edward on the arm. "How could you, Edward Anthony Masen?"

"I just had to, Isabella Marie Swan. I wouldn't have got you here with me otherwise."

"True." I grinned.

"Will you forgive me, love?"

"You know I will, always."

Our hands once again intertwined together.

But reality slammed into me. Or rather a pixie. "Oh my god! I forgot about Alice! She'll kill me when we get back. God knows what she's thinking right now!"

"Relax, love. I won't let anyone hurt you. Even your crazy best friend. Wait, don't say the last bit."

"Don't worry; Alice will have my head as well as yours. She'll probably think I encouraged you."

Edward turned on the stereo and _My Life Would Suck Without You_ blasted from the speakers.

"Kelly Clarkson couldn't have written a better song for us."

"I totally agree."


End file.
